George Washington Flowers 
Memorial Collection 


DUKE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 


ESTABLISHED BY THE 
FAMILY OF 


COLONEL FLOWERS 


BENCH AND BAR 


OR 


WEST VIRGINIA 


fa 


eee EDITED BY 
(Lok AE 

GEO. W. ATKINSON, LL.B., LL.D. 

Of the West Virginia Bar 


“T -hold every man a debtor to his profession; from the 
which as men of course do seek to receive countenance and 
profit, so ought they of duty to endeavor themselves by way of 
amends to be a help and omament thereunto.”—Lord Bacon 


1919 
VIRGINIAN LAW BOOK COMPANY 
Charleston, W. Va. 


‘ | 

Copyrighted by 

GEO. W. ATKINSON 
in June, 1919 


Printing and Binding by 
J. B. LYON COMPANY 
Albany, N. Y. 


G 2304 7s 
ys eae By 


PREFACE. 


For several years past, the State Bar Association has 
had in mind the publication of one or more volumes of 
Biographical Sketches of the distinguished deceased mem- 
bers of the profession in the State of West Virginia. 

Preliminary to entering upon the undertaking, however, 
the Secretary of the Association in 1914 was directed to 
communicate with the members of the same in the different 
Counties of the State, to secure, as nearly as possible, their 
wishes as to the availability of the enterprise. Only a com- 
paratively few responses were received to his inquiry, 
which, to say the least, was anything but encouraging. At 
the 1915 annual meeting of the Association it was decided 
to continue the Special Committee on ‘‘ Bench and Bar ’’ 
with instructions to proceed with the work, provided a 
sufficient number of subscribers for the proposed volume 
were secured, in advance, to meet the expenses of the 
publication. This test was made by the Committee, and not 
being satisfied with the results of its investigations, in com- 
pliance with both the letter and spirit of the resolution of 
the Association, it was deemed best to abondon the enter- 
prise. . 

It is apparent, therefore, that the living members of a 
profession care but little for those ‘‘ who have crossed the 
divide’’; consequently the ‘editor herein decided to 
publish this volume principally of members of the profes- 
sion whe are still in the flesh, wholly upon his own indi- 
vidual responsibility. However, he desires it explicitly to 
be understood that this is, in no respect, an advertising 
scheme where space in this volume can be secured at a 
certain amount of cash per page. It is, therefore, a publica- 
tion upon a legitimate basis, and no member of the profes- 
sion has received mention herein, unless he was believed to 


{iii] 


lv Preface 


be worthy of such recognition. The editor, therefore, pre- 
sents this volume of THE BENCH AND BAR of West 
Virginia with the firm belief that it will be favorably 
received by the members of the profession throughout the 
State. 

We feel that our State Association acted wisely in 
inspiring a publication of this character, because each pass- 
ing year renders it more difficult to procure the facts from 
which to prepare biographies, even of living members of 
the profession. Lamartine says, ‘* History is neither more 
nor less than biography on a large scale,’’ and Carlyle 
adds that ‘‘ Biography is the only true history.”’ 

A great writer has said that biography and geography 
are the eyes of history. Biography is by nature the most 
universally profitable, universally pleasant of all things, 
especially biography of distinguished men, because the 
biographer finds his inspiration in a really worthy subject; 
and the reader is entertained as well as profited by study- 
ing the personal histories of distinguished individuals. Two 
thousand years ago Julius Caesar wrote his autobiography 
in his Commentaries. A thousand years before, Homer 
gave to the world the biographies of Achilles and Ulysses 
in the Ilad and Odyssey. Ata period still more remote by 
several centuries, Moses sketched the lives of Adam and 
Noah and Abraham and Tubal Cain. Ever since the Book 
of Genesis was composed by the great Hebrew leader and 
law-giver, biography has constituted an essential part of 
history. Thomas Carlyle said: ‘‘ For, as I take it, uni- 
versal history, the history of what man has accomplished 
in this world, is at bottom the history of great men who 
have worked here.’’ Macaulay asserts that biography is 
properly a department of history, and that it should not be 
a history of the kings solely, but of the common people also. 

The difficulties in the way of achieving eminence in any 
calling are commensurate with its character. The law is no 
exception, and, as a prefession, ranks among the noblest. 
Law has to do with all the varied relations of man. It has 
been aptly said: ‘‘ How noble the work, how great the 


Preface Vv 


responsibility, how sacred the trust committed to the law- 
yers! His it is rightly to comprehend, fairly to adjust and 
justly to administer that which secures man in the enjoy- 
ment of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; but only 
when thus considered is there thrown around the profession 
of the law that dignity, infused into it that moral force, 
which alone can inspire with an adequate and just concep- 
tion of his duties and responsibilities of the one who aspires 
to a place in its rank. The true lawyer, therefore, sees in 
his profession a noble science, worthy of his manliest effort, 
and he it is, who, bringing to it a mind cultured and richly 
stored with profound and varied learning, can be to it an 
ornament, and in his life reflect that honor which to the true 
lawyer it cannot fail toimpart. To attain the highest excel- 
lence, the lawyer must possess the most varied and oft- 
times opposite qualities. With understanding there must be 
combined discernment. Learned in the subtleties of legal 
lore, he must also know men, and have tact to deal with 
them. He must be a student, and at the same time be able 
to leave the solitude of study to adapt himself to the every- 
day doings of men; and he must also be able to command 
the respect of superiors at all times and upon all occasions.’’ 

The men who have distinguished the West Virginia Bar, 
and added to the fame of a commanding State, are men of 
steadfast purpose and undaunted courage, whose precept 
and example will serve as an inspiration for succeeding 
generations. 

The leading aim in the preparation of these sketches has 
been to sum up the legal lifework of the best known and 
most prominent members of the Bar of West Virginia, into 
such compass as to give only main features, and avoiding 
all flattery, adulation and comparison of one with another, 
or of any one against the rest. Such as have achieved fame 
do not need special mention here to record that fact. By 
their own works alone shall they be known. By no other 
standard can one’s real worth be properly gauged. 

In preparing this volume the editor has sought faith- 
fully to represent a fair proportion of the members of the 


vl Preface 


legal fraternity of the State of West Virginia. The data 
have been secured by personally interviewing, as far as it 
was possible so to do, their immediate friends, and also by 
consulting public records. That the editors’ work is fault- 
less he does not assume; that it will meet with unqualified 
approval he dares not hope. He has, however, con- 
scientiously performed his task, and with that knowledge, 
submits this volume to the intelligent judgment of a fair- 
minded, liberal and generous-hearted profession. If there 
be undervaluation or overvaluation of any lawyer or judge, 
it is attributable solely to want of information or to mis- 
information. On the whole, however, it is believed that the 
publication will prove acceptable to the members of that 
noble profession which has contributed so much to the 
honor and dignity of this great Commonwealth. 

This volume, therefore, is respectfully submitted in the 
confidence that the careers of the members of the legal pro- 
fession of West Virginia, herein described, will prove a 
potent factor in cheering and inspiring the efforts of com- 
ing generations. If this volume is generously received a 
second volume will be published, so that all worthy mem- 
bers of the profession may be properly represented. 

We have deemed it important to include in this volume a 
brief history of the Origin and Growth of the Jurispru- 
dence of Virginia, which we believe will be read with inter- 
est and, it is hoped with profit, by the members of the 
profession throughout the Commonwealth. 

This book is incomplete, for the reason that it does not 
contain sketches of a considerable number of distinguished, 
successful lawyers in different sections of the State. Some 
of them regarded it as an advertising scheme, and frankly 
refused to furnish data from which a personal sketch could 
he prepared, whilst others, who were favorable to the enter- 
prise waited for a convenient time to fill the blanks and 
return them to the editor, which ‘‘ more convenient 
season ’’ seemingly never came, although they were urged 
by personal letters that quick action was absolutely neces- 
sary to properly complete the enterprise, and thus make 


Preface vil 


the book, what it was intended to be, a complete roster 
of the notable members of the Bench and Bar of West 
Virginia. We append a list of gentlemen, who deserve a 
place in the volume, because of merit and achievement 
in the profession, to whom several letters were written by 
the editor, urging favorable action on their part, and in 
addition many of them were also personally called upon for 
the purpose. In only an occasional instance was a direct 
refusal given to appear in the book but simply further 
time in which to furnish data for a sketch was asked by 
them, which data, however, was never sent in. 

We, however, only mention a few of those left out, either 
irom neglect or choice on their part: V. B. Archer, Judge 
J. M. Addleman, John P. Arbenz, John W. Arbuckle, J. 
Robert Anderson, Col. George C. Baker, J. F. Barron, A. 
M. Belcher, Louis Bennett, Jackson V. Blair, Judge Henry 
K. Black, Judge Linn Brannon, A. N. Breckenridge, George 
M. Beltzhoover, S. O. Boyce, B. H. Butcher, Harry P. 
Camden, Jiohn J. Coniff, Frank W. Clark, Judge Charles 
S. Dice, Thomas Ray Dille, M. K. Duty, E. B. Dyer, E. C. 
Fiagle, G. R..E. Gilchrist, W. B. Gribble, Henry Gilmer, 
Judge W. S. Haymond, W. H. Hearne, John A. Howard, 
Nelson C. Hubbard, A. G. Hughes, W. T. Ice, W. W. Jack- 
son, J. W. Kennedy, R. F. Kidd, John F. Laird, James R. 
Marcum, W. Scott Meredith, O. S. Marshall, Lace Marcum, 
zd. W. McIntire, W. H. McGinnis, George J. McComas, Judge 
Frank Nesbitt, Eliott Northcott, Judge P. H. Napier, J. M. 
Payne, W. Dallas Payne, Walter Pendleton, T. N. Read, 
M. G. Sperry, Judge M. F. Stiles, Judge George C. Sturgiss, 
O. E. Swartz, EH. L. Stone, James H. Strickling, William W. 
Scott, H. Roy Waugh, Stuart W. Walker, C. C. Watts, 
Judge John B. Wilkinson, and others. 

PAE HDITOR. 
Charleston, West Virginia, 
June, 1919. 


INTRODUCTION. 


The biographies of the members of the Bar of the various 
States present in clear outline the political history of the 
country. The lives of the leading lawyers of America 
include the careers of twenty-one of the twenty-eight Presi- 
dents, at least seventy-five per cent of all the cabinet officers 
from Washington’s administration to the present time, and 
the majority of the governors of the various states. This 
wide-reaching influence of the Bar makes a book, such as 
the one here presented, very truly a record of the 
achievement and progress of the State. 

Political and personal liberty and a strong Bar go 
together. In America, England and France the leadership 
of the Bar is recognized. In the Anglo-Saxon nations the 
lawyers have always been the leaders in promoting freedom 
and democracy. Here again the lives of the lawyers of 
West Virginia are typical in containing the history of the 
growth of human and political liberty in the State from the 
time of its admission into the Union. 

Few, if any, are as well qualified to prepare this book as 
is Judge Atkinson. Probably no living man has a wider 
acquaintance with the members of the West Virginia Bar, 
or has had greater opportunity or ability to judge 
accurately the work and influence of each of its members. 
His memory more than spans the life of the State, and his 
personal efforts and achievements have made a deep 
impress upon its history and development as well as upon 
its jurisprudence. A well-earned confidence in Judge 
Atkinson, and the belief that a record of the leaders of the 
Bar of West Virginia should be preserved, are expressed 


[ix] 


x Introduction 


by the financial support and official approval of the project 
by the West Virginia Bar Association. The generosity, 
public spirit, and professional interest shown him in editing 
this volume are worthy of the unqualified gratitude and 
commendation of the Bench and Bar of the State. 


HENRY CRAIG JONES, 


President West Virginia 
Bar Association. 


Moreantown, June 1, 1919. 


LIST OF BIOGRAPHIES 


Alderson, Charles M., 49z. 


Alderson, Fleming N., 268. 


Alderson, John D., 194. 
Alderson, Joseph A., 370. 
Alexander, A. S., 316. 
Allebach, Leroy, 264. 
Allen, John J., 19. 
Ambler, B. Mason, 189. 
Ambler, Mason G., 420. 
Anderson, L. C., 282. 
Arnett, W. W., 336. 
Arnold, D. H. Hill, 523. 
Arnold, George J., 408. 
Arnold, William E., 181. 
Atkinson, G. W., 540. 
Atkinson, U. B., 454. 
Avis, S. B., 310. 


Baker, John M., 406. 
Barnes, Uriah, 226. 


Barnhart, William G., 334. 


Bassel, John, 33. 
Bell, S. P., 483. 


Bennett, Jonathan M., 155. 


Bennett, W. G., 230. 
Berkshire, Ralph L., 56. 
Bias, B. Randolph, 422. 
Bishop, William H., 450. 
Blagg, B. H., 487. 
Blagg, Donald O., 464. 
Bledose, Thomas A., 384. 
Blessing, Riley A., 308. 
Blizzard, Reese, 168. 
Blue, Fred O., 139. 
Boggess, Caleb, 87. 
Boreman, Arthur I., 22. 
Brannon, E. A., 324. 
Brannon, Henry, 62. 
Brannon, John, 24. 
Brannon, W. W., 218. 


Brooke, St. George Tucker, 134. 


Broun, C. Beverly, 516. 
Brown, Benjamin B., 266. 
Brown, Forrest W., 260. 
Brown, James A., 16. 
Brown, James F., 186. 
Brown, James H., 9. 
Brown, William G., 25. 
Burdette, C. RB., 485. 


Burdett, S. C., 169. 

Burlew, Abraham, 326. 
Byrer, Harry H., 432. 
Byrne, W. E. B., 360. 


Caldwell, Alfred S., 190. 
Caldwell, William G., 396. 
Calhoun, H. M., 178. 
Camden, G. D., 123. 
Campbeil, C. W., 295. 
Campbell, John A., 192. 
Caperton, Allen T., 32. 
Carlile, John S., 14. 
Carrigan, Charles E., 444. 
Cato, Henry S., 280. 
Chilton, Joseph E., 206. 
Chilton, William E., 106. 
Clark, T. S., 503. 

Clay, Buckner, 525. 
Clemens, Sherrard, 46. 
Coffman, Charles G., 522. 
Coleman, Thomas, 474. 
Conaway, W. H., 478. 
Conley, William G., 176. 
Copen, C. E., 490. 

Cork, J. F., 351. 

Cornett, Thomas H., 480. 
Cornwell, John J., 256. 
Cowden, W. K., 412. 
Cox, Frank, 140. 
Crockett, George P., 424. 
Crockett, Joseph M., 346. 
Crockett, Z. W., 348. 
Crogan, Patrick J., 296. 
Cunningham, A. M., 338. 
Curd, Thomas H. &%., 460. 
Curl, Joseph R., 409. 


Dailey, Robert W., 129. 
Damron, James, 352. 
Davenport, Henry B., 416. 
Davis, D. C. T., Jr., 490. 
Davis, John J., 1. 
Davis, John W., 70. 
Davis, Staige, 317. 
Dawson, W. M. O., 284. 
Dayton, A. G., 132. 
Dayton, Arthur S., 430. 
Dayton, Spencer, 129. 


[xi] 


xil List of Biographies 


Dent, M. H., 72. 
Dillon, C. W., 288. 
Doddridge, Philip, 127. 
Dodson, Raymond, 426. 
Donnally, John C., 421. 
Downes, John M. N., 508. 
Duff, G. G., 386. 

Dulin, Alexander, 433. 
Dunbar, Mathew, 6. 
Dunean, Edwin &., 18. 
Dunean, H. C., Jr., 428. 


Eakle, Branty C., 399. 
Easley, D. M., 494. 
Edmiston, Andrew, 29. 
Edmiston, Matthew, 84. 
England, E. T., 367. 
English, John W., 39. 
Erskine, William, 241. 
Estep, Charles L., 515. 
Evans, D. Barger, 382. 
Everly, E. M., 512. 
Ewing, J. Dallas, 156. 
Ewing, James W., 398. 


Faulkner, Charles J., Sr., 4. 
Faulkner, Charles J., Jr., 5. 


Faulkner, E. Boyd, 228. 
Ferguson, James H., 93. 
File, Ashton, Jr., 536. 
Fisher, Jake, 319. 
Fleming, A. Brooks, 59. 
Flesher, C. W., 530. 
Flick, W. H. H., 313. 
Forbes, Hannibal, 371. 
Fortney, Neil J., 276. 
Fox, Fred L., 166. 
Freer, Romeo H., 216. 
French, David E., 165. 
Fry, Joseph L., 122. 


Gaines, Joseph H., 205. 
George, William T., 253. 
Gibson, Braxton D., 181. 
Glasscock, W. E., 262. 
Goff, Guy D., 263. 

Goff, Nathan, 27. 

Good, Charles W., 439. 
Good, J. Hanson, 339. 
Good, Moses C., 121. 
Goodykoontz, Wells, 314. 
Graham, J. T., 212. 
Green, S. S., 364. 
Green, T. C., 6. 

Guthrie, Frank A., 112. 


Handlan, J. Bernard, 538. 
Harmer, Harvey W., 372. 
Harrison, Edmund C., 540. 
Harrison, William A., 15. 
Haymond, A. F., 44. 
Haymond, Frank C., 446. 
Haymond, William E., 322. 
Flechmer, John L., 304. 
Henson, J. O., 448. 
Herndon, Isaae C., 270. 
Hervey, H. C., 137. 
Higginbotham, C. C., 272. 
Hiteshew, Harry O., 402. 
Hoffman, John §., 60. 
Hogeman, W. H., 161. 
Hogg, C. E., 201. 

Hoke, Joseph T., 138. 
Holt, Homer A., 100. 
Rolt, John H., 220. 

Holt, J. Howard, 388. 
Horan, A. J., 287. 
Houston, H. W., 231. 
Hubard, Robert T., Jr., 362. 
Hubbard, William P., 158. 
Hughes, William W., 378. 
Hutchinson, John A., 114. 


Jackson, Jacob B., 75. 
Jackson, James M., 97. 
Jackson, John G.,, 94. 
Jackson, John J., Sr., 94. 
Jackson, John J., Jr., 96. 
Jackson, Maleolm, 248. 
Jackson, Stephen G., 291. 
Jacob, John J., 50. 
Jacob, Zachariah, 119. 
Jacobs, Thomas P., 224. 
Johnson, Clyde B., 379. 
Johnson, Okey, 76. 
Johnston, David E., 182. 
Jones, Henry Craig, 422. 


Keller, Benjamin F., 110. 
Kelley, L. H., 434. 
Kenna, John E., 58. 
Kimball, Charles N.. 452. 
Kittle, Warren B., 298. 
Knight, Edward B., 47. 
Knight, Edward W., 242. 
Kump, Herman G., 441. 


Laidley. W. S., 365. 
Lamb, Daniel, 54. 
Layne, Carney M., 383. 


List of Biographies xill 


Lazelle, Isaac G., 489. 
Lee, George H., 19. 

Lee, William L., 302. 
Leftwich, F. C., 358. 
Lewis, Charles S., 122. 
Lilly, A. A., 371. 

Linn, Robert, 180. 

Linn, Robert George, 214. 
Littlepage, Adam B., 254. 
Littlepage, B. Kemp, 413. 


Littlepage, Samuel D., 203. 


Lively, Frank, 340. 
Loeb, Leo, 488. 

Long, E. Leslie, 440. 
Loomis, George, 115. 
Lueas, Daniel B., 36. 
Lynch, Charles W., 142. 


MacCorkle, W. A., 247. 


Malamphy, M. J., Jr., 514. 


Marshall, John. 418. 
Mason, John W., 82. 
Mathews, W. B., 504. 
Mathews, W. Gordon, 279. 
Maxwell, Edwin, 124. 
Maxwell, Haymond, 318. 
Maynard, J. Frank, 526. 
Meek, John H., 473. 
Meighen, B. F., 466. 
Melvin, Thayer, 104. 
Meredith, J. A., 476. 
Merendino, Biagio, 442. 
Miller, James H., 172. 
Miller, Samuel A., 65. 
Miller, William N., 150. 
Miller, Warren, 78. 
Mitchell, S. F., 457. 
Mollohan, Wesley, 40. 
Montgomery, S. B., 472. 
Monroe, Alexander, 86. 
Moore, C. P. T., 42. 
Moore, E. F., 477. 
Moore, George D., 447. 
Moreland, James R., 470. 
Moreland, Joseph. 116. 
Morgan, E. F., 305. 
Morris, James D., 519. 
Morris, J. R. W.. Jr., 524. 
Morris, Tusea, 450. 
Morrow, James, Jr., 26. 
Morton, E. H., 246. 
Morton, Robert K., 430. 


McCabe, R. E., 344. 
McCamie, Charles, 530. 


McClintic, George W., 164. 
McComas, David, 2. 
McDonald, Angus W., 516. 
MeGraw, John T., 232. 
McIntire, T. M., 385. 
McKee, D. A., 469. 
MeMahon, R. R., 481. 
MeWhorter, H. C., 162. 
MeWhorter, J. C., 354. 
MeWhorter, J. M., 148. 
MeWhorter, L. E., 368. 


Nadenbousch, A. C., 457. 
Neely, M. M., 393. 
Nolte, Henry A., 525. 
Nuckolls, E. L., 208. 


O’Brien, F. A., 484. 
O’Brien, W. H., 274. 
O’Brien, W. S., 328. 
Osenton, Charles W., 300. 
Oxley, Benjamin H., 493. 


Palmer, J. C., 345. 
Parriott, J. D., 414. 
Patton, J. F., 80. 

Paull, James, 68. 

Peck, Daniel, 49. 
Pendleton, Joseph H., 55. 
Pifer, F. C., 528. 
Poffenbarger, George, 144. 
Polsley, Daniel, 30. 
Poundstone, A. M., 51. 
Powell, Charles, 391. 
Price, Andrew, 381. 
Price, George E., 184. 
Price, Samuel, 120. 
Pritt, Wayne K., 518. 


Quarrier, W. A., 26. 


Rardin, W. H., 432. 
Reynolds, A. W., 250. 
Reynolds, Frank C., 330. 
Reynolds, F. M.. 152. 
Rider, Edward G.. 532. 
Riley, John H., 12. 
Riley, Thomas §., 320. 
Ritchie, Charles, 498. 
Ritz, Harold A., 130. 
Ritz, Russell S., 534. 
Robinson, Ira E.. 90. 
Robinson, James W.. 388. 
Robinson, Jedediah W., 410. 


XIV List of Biographies 


Rucker, Edgar P., 252. 
Rummel, H: D., 357. 
Russell, Charles W., 13. 
Ryan, Thomas P., 400. 


St. Clair, J. W., 327. 
Sale, Graham, 436. 
Sanders, Hartley, 500. 
Sanders, Joseph M., 88. 
Scherr, Harry, 437. 
Shipman, J. F., 486. 
Simms, Henry, 502. 
Simms, John T., 376. 


Simpson, George Perry, 292. 


Simpson, John C., 480. 
Smith, B. H., 99. 
Smith, E. G., 234. 
Smith, H. B., 356. 
Smith, Harvey F., 259. 
Smith, Isaae D., 510. 
Smith, Isaac N., 47. 
Smith, Levin, 233. 
Snider, Mi lard F., 238. 
Snyder, Adam C., 66. 
Sommerville, J. B., 52. 
Spears, S. T., 334. 
Spilman, Robert S., 366. 
Sprigg, Samuel, 98. 
Stanton, Benjamin, 147. 
Stephenson, James M., 28. 
Stout, H. Frank, 508. 
Strother, D. J. F., 374. 
Strother, James F., 344. 
Sugden, Walter S., 272. 
Summers, George W., 118. 
Summers, Lewis, 118. 


Talbott, E. D., 342. 
Tavenner, Lewis N., 332. 


Thompson, George W., 126. 
Thompson, William R., 210. 
Toler, James A., 462. 
Travers, William H., 103. 


Valentine, Arthur Jay, 520. 
Van Winkle, W. W., 236. 
Vinson, Z. Taylor, 213. 
Viquesney, J. A., 458. 


Wallace, George S., 244. 
Watkins, Marsh, 464. 
Wehrle, John, 506, 
Wertz, W. W., 453. 
Wheat, James S., 23. 
White, George H., 404. 
White, John Baker, 438. 
White, Kemble, 527. 
White, Robert, 394. 
Whitten, John L., 170. 
Wi'es, G. R. C., 391. 
Willey, W. P., 109. 
Willey, W. T., 21. 
Williams, L. Judson, 174. 
Willis, M. H., 222. 
Wilson, Benjamin, 100. — 
Wilson, William L., 108. 
Woods, Homer B., 202. 
Woods, J. Hop., 198. 
Woods, Samuel, 34. 
Woods, Samuel V., 196. 
Woods, John M., 217. 
Wolfe, J. Luther. 271. 
Wyckoff, O. E., 539. 
Wysong, W. S., 520. 


Yost, Ellis A., 496. 
Young, U. G., 306. 


THE ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF THE JURIS- 
PRUDENCE OF THE TWO VIRGINIAS. 


In the preparation of this article we claim no special 
originality for what we shall herein offer, because the work 
we have done is in the line of a compiler only. The books 
we have found most helpful are ‘*‘ Bruce’s Institutional 
History of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century,’’ ‘‘ Minor’s 
Institutes,’’ Vol. IV, 3d Edition, ‘‘ Henning’s Statutes ”’ 
and the records of some of the early counties, or shires, of 
the Jamestown Colony, which have materially aided us in 
our investigations. 

The Cavaliers, who formed a settlement at Jamestown 
in 1607, brought with them from England its system of laws, 
social customs and religious doctrines. Their aim was to 
maintain, as far as possible, not only the spirit, but also the 
letter of the English laws. The edict of the King issued to 
them, after the formation of the Colony, was to adhere as 
closely as they could ‘‘ to the common law of England, and 
the equity thereof.’’ As early as 1631 the oath which each 
Colonial Justice of the Peace and Judge was required to 
take commanded him ‘‘ to do justice as near as may be to 
the English laws ;’’ and we find Governor Berkeley, in 1662, 
declaring that justice was administered in Virginia accord- 
ing to ‘* the laws of England as far as we are able to under- 
stand them.’’ He stated further that ‘‘ all things of fact 
were tried by jury,’’ and Magna Carta, the Petition of 
Right, and the Writ of Habeas Corpus also formed a part 
of the fundamental ordinances of the Virginia Colony. 

Bruce in his Virginia History of the Seventeenth Century 
states that, inasmuch as all the acts of the General 
Assembly had to receive the King’s assent before they 
finally became laws, that assent made valid even those acts 


[xv] 


xvl1 Jurisprudence of the Two Virginas 


which were repugnant to the ordinances of England; there- 
fore, the conclusive test was whether this assent had or 
had not been given. When, in the commissions of the 
Governors and the judges of the county courts it was 
declared that they were to perform the duties of their 
respective offices in harmony with the ** known laws of 
England and the laws and customs of Virginia,’’ it was 
simply intended, so far as the laws, as distinguished from 
the customs of Virginia were involved, to enforce only such 
enactments as had received the royal approval; and if that 
approval had been refused it was a ground of no concern 
whether or not these enactments were in conflict with the 
English statutory or common law. The continual usage, 
however, up to 1684, was according to the laws and usages 
of Virginia, and all the precedents in the several courts, 
both civil and criminal, whereof there are many prece- 
dents.* The successive Kings seem to have respected 
strictly even mere custom unless supposed to be inimical to 
the royal prerogative ; in which case custom was overridden. 

Six different courts constituted the judicial system, viz., 
the Magistrate’s Court, the Parish Court, the County Court, 
the General Court, the General Assembly and the Court of 
Admiralty. Also a Court of Chancery was maintained for 
a few years, but was abolished by the English Government 
as unnecessary. Bruce further states that there was no 
place to be found in which justice more speedy or at a 
smaller charge was to be obtained than in Virginia at this 
time; and what was true of this peroid was also true of 
every other after the meeting of the first General Assembly 
in 1619, the time from which the colony’s history as a free 
and practically self-governing community really dates. The 
lowest and least important of these courts was the Magis- 
trate’s Court, the highest and most important was the Gen- 
eral Court. In 1642 there was passed an act of Assembly 
authorizing the justices of the peace to try every case invol- 
ing an amount not exceeding twenty shillings, or two hun- 


* Letters of William Fitzhugh, June 10, 1684. 


Jurisprudence of the Two Virginias xvii 


dred pounds of tobacco. The object this law had in view 
was twofold — first, to avoid the expense which, by a suit 
in the monthly court, would have been entailed on both 
parties by having to go a great distance and to lose much 
valuable time attending its sessions; and, secondly, to dis- 
courage unnecessary litigations in that court, where a dis- 
pute over twenty shillings would have absorbed as many 
hours and required the presence of as many costly wit- 
nesses as a dispute over a thousand pounds. 

The Magistrate’s Court was not confined exclusively to 
civil controversies, but also had jurisdiction over criminal 
acts. As early as 1656 a justice of the peace possessed the 
power to arrest and bind over any inveterate law-breaker. 

But one Parish Court was in operation in the Colony 
which was created by an act of the Assembly in 1656, for 
Henrico and Charles City Counties only. It had con- 
eurrent jurisdiction with the County Courts and was 
established for the convenience of the residents of the two 
counties named, but it was discontinued before the end of 
the century, as it was found to be unnecessary. 

The most important of these early courts to the people 
at large was the Monthly or County Court. It was created 
by an act of the General Assembly in 1618, and was the 
people’s own court, as it was for nearly three hundred 
years thereafter, for the adjustment of petty legal disputes 
between citizens. The establishment of this legal tribunal, 
therefore, was in strict conformity with one of the most 
important rights guaranteed to all Englishmen by Magna 
Carta at Runnymede. The members of the court were 
chosen from ‘‘the most able, honest and judicious citizens’”’ 
of the different counties. In the beginning the court did 
not exceed four members, but in 1628 the number was 
inereased to eight and still later to ten justices of the peace. 
The office of a justice was looked upon as being so purely 
honorable that, following the English precedent, it carried 
no salary in the strict sense of the term; nor were there 
any perquisites growing out of the position approaching 
in importance those which made the office of councillor so 


xvlil Jurisprudence of the Two Virginas 


valuable from a pecuniary point of view. The only remu- 
neration at any time bestowed on the judges of the county 
bench by an act of the General Assembly was the thirty 
pounds of tobacco ordered under the provisions of a statute 
passed in 1681, to be paid towards the maintenance of these 
judges by every litigant in their respective courts who 
should fail to win his suit.* 

These County Courts were extremely dignified tribunals, 
which insisted on maintaining strict decorum on the part 
of litigants and bystanders who attended them. They con- 
vened early in the mornings and continued their sessions 
until late in the afternoons and frequently into the nights. 
The justices were a plain county folk, who showed no 
respect for limited hours of toil and deliberation. 

When these courts were established in 1619, their juris- 
diction was confined to small or petty matters; but in the 
Act of 1625 their powers were extended to controversies 
not exceeding the value of one hundred pounds of tobacco, 
it being the common or basic currency of the realm. Five 
years later the limitation of their jurisdiction by a second 
act of the Assembly expressly prohibited them from decid- 
ing any question that placed either life or limb in jeop- 
ardy.t They were empowered to enter final judgment in 
all suits not exceeding five pounds sterling in value. They 
were also directed to inquire into petty crimes, to insure 
the safety of the people and to maintain peace. 

The General Assembly in 1634 adopted ten pounds 
sterling as the general amount of the court’s jurisdiction. 
Under this limitation if the suit decided involved more 
than ten pounds sterling the defeated litigant should be 
dissatisfied with the manner in which the judgment had 
been rendered, possessed the right to take an appeal to 
the General Court; but if the sum fell below that amount 
the judgment was to be conclusive. They were, first, to 
enforce the acts for the preservation of good government, 
and to punish everyone guilty of violating them; secondly, 


*Henning’s Statutes, Vol. I., 66. 
t Henning’s Statutes, Vol. I., 132. 


Jurisprudence of the Two Virginias EIB 


to arrest all persons who threatened or actually assaulted 
any of the King’s subjects; thirdly, to impanel juries who 
_were to inquire into all manner of felonies, witchcraft, 
extortions and the like; fourthly, to examine witnesses, 
take depositions and decide suits between party litigants; 
fifthly, to carry out all orders of the General Court and 
proclamations of the Governor and Council, and to punish 
any one who disregarded them; and, finally, to require 
their clerk to make a permanent record in all matters of 
general controversy already determined.* In a general 
way, the County Court’s jurisdiction resembled the com- 
bined jurisdictions of the principal courts of England, viz., 
the Chancery, King’s Bench, Common Pleas, Exchequer, 
Admiralty and Ecclesiastical. The readiness of their 
response to every appeal made to them by the poor was 
one of the most remarkable and commendable of their 
many characteristics as a judicial body. 

This court also sat as a Court of Probate, and the act 
of Assembly of 1645 provided that letters of administration 
should be granted by this court. Wills, however, had been 
approved in the County Courts prior to this act, as also 
had been the probating of wills by the General Court 
alone. One of the County Court’s most original features 
was that it was a court of record for all kinds of land 
conveyances. All conveyances of real estate were required 
to be recorded at the county seat of each of the counties 
or shires, as a means of affording the people at large the 
fullest information as to the basis of title to all land 
situated in their respective counties. Mortgages were to 
be regarded as fraudulent unless they were recorded in the 
books of either the County or General Court. 

Bruce, after citing Henning, Vol. I, 303, states that by 
the terms of an act passed in 1645 either party to a suit 
in a county court, no matter how large or how small the 
sum or values involved might be, possessed the right to 
eall for the settlement of the controversy by the verdict 


* Northampton County Records, 1689-98, p. 99. 


EX Jurisprudence of the Two Vzirginias 


of a jury. If, before the case came to an actual hearing 
the defendant should demand relief in equity, the case was 
to be stayed until the issue of the appeal to the Chancery 
Division of the Court was known; and should that issue 
be unfavorable to the defendant’s side, the trial by jury 
was to be begun and pressed to a conclusion. If, on the 
other hand, the issue was favorable, the justices could 
enter a decree at once and dismiss the jury.* It would 
appear that, even after the jury had delivered its verdict, 
an appeal could be made to the chancery side of the Court. 
The General Court, which at the present time is the 
Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia, was the first and 
highest tribunal for the administration of justice estab- 
lished by the English inhabitants of North America. Its 
pre-eminence, therefore, is increased by the fact that its 
membership, then as now, was composed of men who were 
the foremost of their times in ability, character, social rank, 
political standing and influence among their fellow citizens. 
Bruce states that the history of this court can be appro- 
priately divided into two distinct periods — first, its his- 
tory previous to 1619, when the Colony was held under 
established rule and was in an unsettled condition which 
extended its influence to the action of the court; and, 
second, its history after 1619, when the Colony had become 
a self-governing community and its affairs were regulated 
by its own acts of Assembly and the laws of England, a 
fact in its turn also reflected in the action of the court. 
During the first period the jurisdiction of the General 
Court was entirely original; during the second it was 
original and appellate. ‘‘ When the government was first 
organized for Virginia the President and Council were 
invested with judicial as well as with political powers. 
They were particularly authorized to punish with death 
all persons convicted of rebellion, conspiracy, mutiny, sedi- 
tion, murder, manslaughter, rape and adultery, but the 
grounds of the original accusation first had to be investi- 
gated by twelve impartial, sworn jurymen. There are 


* Henning’s Statutes, Vol. I., 303. 


Jurisprudence of the Two Vurginias b:54 


numerous instances of the exercise of these judicial powers 
in criminal cases at the very threshold of the Colony’s 
history.’’* 

Its sessions were usually held at Jamestown, the capital 
of the Colony, but it frequently met elsewhere, notably at 
Willhamsburg. Its terms ordinarily continued through a 
single week, and its members consisted of the Governor 
and the entire body of men belonging to his Council. At 
first three composed a quorum, which was subsequently 
increased to five, and in 1631 a fine of forty shillings was 
levied against every member who failed to attend the ses- 
sions of the Court unless reasonable excuses were shown. 
However, it nowhere appears that any of the judges was 
ever fined for the neglect of duty. 

As we have already stated, the jurisdiction of the Gen- 
eral Court was both original and appellate, and its most 
important feature was its exclusive right to try all original 
eases for loss of life and limb. An early statute required 
that every criminal should be tried in the county wherein 
the offense was committed. In a very few years, how- 
ever, this law, which was adopted for the immediate relief 
of the people, was repealed and the General Court was 
thereafter given exclusive jurisdiction of all extreme cases 
of crime. 

An appeal to this tribunal from the County Courts was 
allowable when it was clearly shown that an unjust decision 
had been rendered and public justice had miscarried. How- 
ever, by an act of the Assembly adopted in 1647 no appeal 
was allowable in civil cases unless the sum in dispute was 
equal in value to sixteen hundred pounds of tobacco, or 
its equivalent, which, at that time, was ten pounds sterling. 
In 1659 this limitation was removed in all the counties 
except Northampton, and at the same time it was provided 
that in case the appeal was overruled by the high court 
the appellant was required, in addition to the cost of the 
appeal, to pay to the appellee a sum in the way of damages 
equal to one-half of the amount in controversy. The Act 


. * Bruce’s History, Vol. I., 647. 


Xxll Jurisprudence of the Two Virgins 


of 1661 removed the restriction on the right to appeal 
when a small amount or an object of small value was 
involved, on the ground that there ‘‘ might be as great 
error in judgment of matters of small value as of the 
greatest.’’ The appellant in such a case, however, was 
still required to give security that he would prosecute the 
cause; and also that, if cast in the suit in the General Court, 
he would, in the form of damages alone, pay the appellee 
fifty per cent of the sum in dispute.* A few years after- 
wards it was decided that an unconditional appeal would 
be allowed only in those cases involving values exceeding 
sixteen hundred pounds of tobacco, or ten pounds sterling.t+ 

The principal officers of the Appellate Court were its 
clerk and Attorney-General. The latter was the chief legal 
adviser of the Governor and Council as well as the highest 
public prosecutor for the Crown in the Colony. His salary 
was twenty pounds sterling annually, in addition to the 
fees required to be paid to him by the litigants in appeal 
cases. 

Under an act of the General Assembly adopted in 1642, 
an appeal might be taken to the General Assembly from 
the County Courts, and also from the General Court, 
should it be clearly shown that the Court in trying the 
same had failed to promote equity, or in cases where the 
Governor had sat as a judge on the circuit.t There, how- 
ever, was seemingly no inhibition on the right of any citizen 
to appeal to the General Assembly touching any matter 
involving a general right. But later on this right was 
taken away by the action of the English Government, and 
the Burgesses never fully reconciled themselves to the 
change, because they regarded it as an encroachment upon 
their rights as members of the legislative body of the 
Crown in the Colony. 

Bruce in his history of the Seventeenth Century, in dis- 
cussing the Admiralty and Chancery Courts, says that 

* Henning’s Statutes, Vol. IT, 65. 


+ Bruce’s History, Vol. I, 683, 685. 
~ Henning’s Statutes, Vol. I, 345. 


Jurisprudence of the Two Virginias Xxlil 


“‘ during the greater part of the seventeenth century all 
eases involving questions of admiralty were tried, not by 
a single court which possessed the exclusive right of inquiry 
in that field, but by both the County Court and the General 
Court. It would appear that the latter, in conformity with 
the character of its most important original jurisdiction, 
decided all admiralty causes in which the punishment to be 
inflicted consisted of the loss of life or limb. Such causes 
were principally those in which persons were brought up 
before it for having committed murder or a like offense on 
the high seas.’’ Governor Berkeley in 1671 declared that 
there was no need of an admiralty court, ‘‘ since not a 
single prize in the course of twenty-eight years had been 
brought into the waters of the Colony.’’* But in 1697 
such a court was established in the Colony as a permanent 
part of its judicial system. Its officers consisted of judge, 
register, marshal and advocate, who, upon the recom- 
mendation of the Governor, were appointed by the Lord 
High Admiral of England. Al1l of these officers were men 
of high standing and were citizens of the Colony. 

The jurisdiction of this court ‘‘ embraced not only all 
cases of piracy, privateering and violations of the naviga- 
tion acts, but also all cases of unlawful conduct on the 
collectors’ part in performing their duties; or of unlawful 
conduct which these collectors had detected on the part 
of other persons in relation to the taxes on exports. It 
also determined all controversies arising between master 
and mariner, whatever might be the subject of the 
dispute.’’ 

The only other court created in Virginia during the 
seventeenth century was the Court of Chancery, which, 
owing to the usurpations of its High Chancellor (Governor 
Howard) had existed only a short time and played but a 
small part in the judicial history of the period of its exist- 
ence, when it was abolished by the General Assembly. 

At various times it was suggested that a separate Court 
of Exchequer should be established in the Colony; but 


* Bruce’s History, Vol I, 396. 


XXIV Jurisprudence of the Two Virgins 


inasmuch as the duties of such a tribunal were fully 
embraced in the jurisdiction of the General Court it was 
never created. 

From the foregoing statements it appears that Virginia 
is the mother of the Common Law Practice and Procedure 
in the New World, from which has spread into the different 
States of the Republic — except Louisiana—the Lex Non 
Scripta, which, in a restricted form, in conjunction with 
State statutory enactments, will ever remain the law for 
the government of the various Commonwealths of our com- 
mon country. From Magna Carta to the present time the 
methods of enacting law and the succession of great expon- 
ents and expounders of the law are established and well 
known: Glanvill in the twelfth century and Bracton in the 
thirteenth were followed by Littleton in the fifteenth, by 
Coke in the seventeenth, by Blackstone in the eighteenth 
and by Kent in the nineteenth century. 

The first Constitution of Virginia was adopted in May, 
1776, and from that time the powers of the Convention 
ceased. Patrick Henry was elected the first Governor of 
the State June 29 of that year—the same day the Con- 
stitution was adopted. He was succeeded in 1779 by 
Thomas Jefferson, who resigned in June, 1781, and was 
succeeded by Thomas Nelson, junior, who resigned the 
same year and was succeeded by Benjamin Harrison, who 
continued in office until November 29, 1784, when Patrick 
Henry was again elected Chief Executive of the State. 
The Colonial Courts were thereafter continued, although 
changes from time to time were made by Constitutional 
conventions and by legislative enactments, yet for a long 
period of time the English system was not materially 
altered. The Convention of 1849 required members of the 
County Court to be chosen by popular election, and the 
Convention of 1869 changed the system so the court ceased 


In the History of North America, published by Barrie at Philadelphia, 
Vol. 3, p. 90, speaking of the Virginia courts, he says the Spanish Am- 
bassador, Gondomar, warned James II that the Virginia courts were a 
““ seminary for a seditious parliament.’’ 


Jurisprudence of the Two Virginias XXV 


to be held by Justices of the Peace, and in all of the coun- 
ties the court was presided over by a County Judge, who 
was chosen from the legal profession. This tribunal, there- 
fore, for more than two centuries was a peculiar feature 
in the distribution of the judicial power in Virginia; and 
until 1870 it maintained a prominent place in the domestic 
polity of the Commonwealth. 

From 1776 down to 1831 the administration of the juris- 
dictions of law and equity were wholly separate in Virginia, 
except in the County and Corporation Courts; the tribunals 
with that exception being as entirely distinct as they were 
in England. These two courts were at once courts of 
Jaw and equity, yet the two jurisdictions were by no 
means blended, nor in any wise counfounded. At first, 
in the imitation of the English system, there existed 
but one Superior Court of Chancery in the State, which 
held its sessions in Richmond, and was known as the High 
Court of Chancery. In 1802 the State was divided into 
three districts, and a chancery court was provided for each 
district to hold sessions at Richmond, Williamsburg 
and Staunton. Subsequently the number was increased to 
nine, and courts were held, in addition to the three places 
above designated, at Norfolk, Fredericksburg, Lynchburg, 
Wytheville, Winchester and Clarksburg. Later on Lewis- 
burg was added to the list. This system continued until 
1831, when it yielded to that which has ever since been in 
force.” 

In 1809 Superior Courts of Law were held by a single 
judge twice a year in every county and corporation; and 
in 1831 this system was followed substantially by the 
present organization, which commits common law and 
equity jurisdiction to the same judge, just as has long been 
practiced in the County and Corporation Courts, keeping 
separate jurisdictions, however, as distinct as if they had 
been administered by different judges. These courts were 
required to be held twice a year in every individual county 


* Minor’s Institutes, Vol. IV, 3d Ed., 271. 


XXV1 Jurisprudence of the Two Virguuas 


and corporation. In 1851 the name, but not the jurisdic- 
tions of these courts, was changed to Cireuit Courts, and 
as such they are now held throughout the State. 

Under the Constitution of 1904 the following courts only 
are now in existence, Viz.: 

Magistrates’ courts, with jurisdiction in all misdemean- 
ors, with right of appeal to the Cireuit Courts, and civil 
jurisdiction up to $100, with similar right of appeal. 
Recently the Legislature increased the amount to $300. 

Cireuit Courts, which have general jurisdiction in all 
civil and criminal matters, law and equity, and which are 
held for the various counties in the State by a judge elected 
by the Legislature. There are now 31 Cireuit Courts in 
the Commonwealth of Virginia. 

Corporation Courts, which have the same jurisdiction as 
the Cireuit Courts, except they are confined to the larger 
cities. There are, at this time, 18 such courts in Virginia. 

The cities of Norfolk, Richmond and Roanoke each has 
a Court of Chancery, presided over by a judge elected, 
as all other judges are in the State, by the Legislature. 
And finally, the court of last resort —the Supreme Court 
of Appeals — of five judges, which, as its name implies, 
has state-wide jurisdiction over all appeal cases. 

When West Virginia became a separate State in 1863 
the judicial and legal system of Virginia was practically 
adopted by the new State, except the County Court for the 
trial of civil and criminal causes, which tribunal gave way 
to township Boards of Supervisors, whose jurisdiction 
was limited solely to the management of the fiscal affairs 
of the different counties; but under the Constitution of 
1872 the supervisor system was changed back to the old 
plan of County Courts, which are still in vogue. These 
courts, however, are limited in their jurisdiction to the 
appointment of administrators and executors, the probat- 
ing of wills, the recording of deeds, etc., and the manage- 
ment of the fiscal affairs of the various counties. In some 
of the counties, however, county business is controlled by 
Boards of Commissioners and not by County Courts, except 


Jurisprudence of the Two Vurginias XXV 


in name and in the manner above stated. We still retain 
the office of Justice of the Peace, who has jurisdiction in 
criminal procedure, and also in civil causes in amounts 
not exceeding $300, with the right of appeal to the Inter- 
mediate and Circuit Courts. We have Cireuit Courts 
throughout the State with identically the same jurisdiction 
as those in Virginia. In a few of the counties Criminal 
Courts have been created by the Legislature to hear and 
dispose of criminal cases only. In Kanawha and Marion 
Counties Intermediate Courts were established to relieve 
the Cireuit Courts of those counties from the congestion 
brought about mainly by the numerous appeals to them 
from Magisterial Courts. In 1914 the Common Pleas Court 
of Kanawha County was created by an act of the Legis- 
lature, whose jurisdiction is substantially concurrent with 
the Cireuit Court of that county. And finally, West 
Virginia, the same as the Mother State, has its Supreme 
Court of Appeals, composed of five judges, although there 
were only three when the State was created, which number 
was increased to four by the Constitution of 1872. The 
amendment providing for a fifth judge was adopted in 
1902. As its name implies, this court is the final arbiter 
im both law and equity in all appeals from the Circuit 
Courts. 

We have, therefore, in Virginia and West Virginia today 
practically the same system of jurisprudence that was in 
existence three hundred years ago. Whilst law is now a 
more exact science than it was in the seventeenth century, 
yet its basic principles, now as then, are the same, and will 
doubtless so continue to be through the coming centuries. 


BIOGRAPHIES 


Hon. John J. Davis 


Among the many able, representative lawyers of the West Virginia Bar, 
the subject of this sketch, for more than a half century, stood forth as a 
tall cedar on a mountain crest. Tall in stature, he was also tall in his pro- 
fession, and in everything that goes to distinguish one as a man of mark 
among his fellowmen. Although he lived to pass his eightieth milestone, it 
can be truthfully said of him, that he wronged no man, living or dead, and 
his personal character was as spotless as a maiden’s, and as unsullied as a 
ray of light. He was a man of positive convictions on all important ques- 
tions, but he was so fair and reasonable in all his contentions that no fair- 
minded man could be offended over his utterances. On the other hand, he 
invariably conceded the right of all adversaries to defend their convictions 
of right and duty. His language was as chaste as violets, as was his long 
life of a little more than four score years. No one ever heard an unchaste 
expression fall from his lips on any occasion, or at any time. He was ever 
and at all times a gentleman, and more than that, a Christian in the truest 
sense of the word. His entire life was one of unpretentious gentleness, and 
as modestly as he had lived through a long and successful life, his sun went 
down calmly, and ‘‘ he fell on sileep.’’ 

Mr. Davis was born in Harrison County, Virginia, May 5, 1835, and died 
March 19, 1916, in the City of Clarksburg, near the spot where he first saw 
the light, where his entire life was spent. He received his preparatory 
education at the old Northwestern Virginia Academy in Clarksburg. His 
professional training was obtained at the law school of Judge John W. 
Brockenbrough, which afterwards became the law department of Washing- 
ton & Lee University at Lexington, Virginia. He never sought a public 
office and those filled by him were practically foreed upon him. His public 
services consisted of membership in the Virginia House of Delegates, to 
which he was elected in 1861; member of the Second West Virginia Con- 
vention, which met in 1861, and which was instrumental in organizing the 
State of West Virginia; member of the West Virginia Legislature, to 
which he was elected in 1870; member of the Forty-second and Forty-third 
Congresses of the United States; Presidential Elector in 1865 and again 
in 1885; member of the Board of Visitors of the West Point Military 
Academy; Regent of the State University of West Virginia, and director 
of the Hospital for the Insane at Weston. 

Possessing an incisive intellect and a profoundly logical mind, Mr. Davis 
speedily won and for more than a half century held a position of pre- 
eminence as a lawyer. He did not specialize in any particular branch of 


2 Bench and Bar of West Virgina 


the law or line of practice, but possessed a wide general knowledge and 
thorough grasp of the fundamentals of the profession, and was always a 
safe counsellor. As an advocate he attained and held a position of pre- 
eminence at the Bar and in the forum of West Virgmia, freely recognized 
by all of his compeers. 

He was not only prominent in the law and in religious activities, but he 
held a high position in the Masonic Order, and was honored and loved by 
his brethren throughout the State. While, as we have already stated, he 
was not only a really eminent lawyer, his fame as a man and a citizen will 
outlive that achieved in his professional capacity. His literary attainments 
were marvelous. Books were his constant and loved companions, and in 
spite of the labors of a busy life, he found time to read and study works on 
literature, history, science and every branch of human knowledge, and 
indeed in his old age reading was with him an abiding passion. He was a 
man of deep convictions and possessed a profound knowledge of the political 
and governmental questions which had to be met and settled by the govern- 
ment of the United States, the duration of which antedates by less than half 
a century the date of his birth. He never for a moment surrendered or 
compromised a conviction, on the many and multifarious matters which 
came before the public during his long career. He exerted a great influence 
upon his fellow men in those affairs, which influence widened as the years 
went by, and which is destined to make for righteousness in public affairs 
for many years to come. He felt deeply the obligations resting upon him as 
a man and a citizen, and his life was a continuous manifestation of his 
sincere convictions; and we may truthfully say of him what the Regent 
Merton said over the grave of John Knox, ‘‘He never feared the face 
of mortal man.’’ 


Judge David McComas 


Among the early distinguished Judges of what was then known as the 
Kanawha Circuit, which consisted of more than a dozen counties, extending 
from Wythe County, Virginia, to Wood County, West Virginia, was the 
subject of this brief notice. He was the son of General Elisha McComas, 
and was born in Wythe County, Virginia, in 1795, and after a brilliant 
career as a lawyer and jurist he died in Giles County, Virginia, in 1864. 
He was a Whig, although he never had much to do with polities. He, 
however, served one term in the Senate of Virginia from the Kanawha 
Senatorial District. While a Circuit Judge, his home was on Virginia 
Street, in Charleston, not far from where the office of the ‘‘ Charleston 
Daily Mail ’’ is now published. 

Judge McComas married a Miss French, but they were never blessed 
with any offspring. The Judge is remembered by many of the older citizens 
of Charleston as an erudite lawyer, and a jurist of great ability. He was 
also a man of high grade integrity, and was the soul of honor; and is still 
referred to as one of the able jurists, who was an honor to the judiciary 
of the Western portaon of Virginia, more than sixty years ago. 


HON. JOHN J. DAVIS 


4 Bench and Bar of West Virgima 


Hon. Charles James Faulkner 


The subject of this brief memorial was one of the great lawyers and most 
distinguished statesmen of the States of Virginia and West Virginia. He 
was born at Martinsburg, Virginia, in 1806, and died in the city of his 
nativity, November 1, 1884. He was a man of great learning and broad 
views, covering all branches of literature, science, history, law and states- 
manship. For a half century or more, he was considered generally by the 
people of Virginia, as one of the greatest lawyers of the entire South. He 
was originally a member of the Whig Party, but in 1852 he felt that his 
party had abandoned its principles, and he became a Democrat and sup- 
ported Franklin Pierce for the Presidency of the Republic. For eight years 
prior to the Civil War he represented what is now known in West Virginia 
as the ‘‘ Eastern Pan-handle ’’ of the State, in the Congress of the United 
States. However, before he entered politics he studied law, was admitted 
to the Bar and had made himself a distinguished member of the legal 
profession, and was heralded as such, not only throughout Virginia, but in 
many other portions of the South. In Congress he took an active part in 
the public debates on important questions that arose in legislation, and 
became generally known as a Representative far above the average states- 
men of that period. When James Buchanan became President, he selected 
Mr. Faulkner, toward the end of his term, as the Ambassador of the United 
States to Paris, France. He entered upon the duties of this exalted station 
March 4, 1860, and discharged its onerous duties with discretion and states- 
manlike ability, until the change of administration when he was recalled, 
and consequently returned to his native country. Many political charges 
were preferred against Mr. Faulkner, but none of them affecting his 
integrity and honor was sustained, and he emerged from all the attacks 
absolutely unsullied and unstained. 

He was a man of the highest conceptions of honor, dignity and character 
during his entire life, and exerted a wide influence for the higher con- 
ceptions of life and duty among all the people who had the honor of his 
acquaintance. 

After his stay of something more than a year in France, he returned to 
his native State, and remained in comparative retirement until the close 
oi the Civil War, studying national and international questions at the home 
of his daughter in Appomattox County. When all of the storm-clouds of war 
had blown away, he returned to his home at Martinsburg, Berkeley County, 
and resumed the practice of law. The people, however, would not allow 
him to remain in retirement, and he accordingly was elected a member of 
the State Constitutional Convention of 1872 to frame a new Constitution for 
West Virginia, and was its temporary president. He was elected a member 
of Congress from the Second Congressional District, and served two years 
from March 4, 1875, to March 4, 1877, and declined a re-election. This was 
his last public office. He had a large estate; was President of the Agricul- 


or 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


tural Association of Berkeley County, and President of the M=rtinsburg and 
Potomac Railroad Company up to the time of his death. He had a very 
large law practice, chiefly in the Supreme Court of the United States, the 
Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, and the Judicial Circuit in 
which he resided. 

He was one of the most courteous, knightly gentlemen the writer ever 
knew, and bore the confidence and respect of every person who knew him 
personally. He had a family of several children—two of his sons were 
distinguished Circuit Court Judges of the State, and one of them, Charles 
James Faulkner, Jr.. was twelve years a Senator in Congress from West 
Virginia, and has a large corporation practice in the City of Washington, 
D. C., and is eminent in the profession. 


Hon. Charles James Faulkner, Jr., LL.B. 


The name of Faulkner is inseparably interwoven with the history of the 
two Virginias, from Major James Faulkner, who was prominent as a brave 
officer in the War of 1812, down to the present generation. The elder 
Charles James Faulkner, who is sketched in another part of this volume, 
was a noted lawyer and statesman in his day, and his son, the subject of 
this sketch, the namesake of his distinguished father, who also bears a high 
rank as a lawyer, jurist and statesman in his native State. He was born 
in Berkeley County, Virginia (now West Virginia), September 21, 1847, 
and during the time his father was Ambassador to France, he attended the 
best schools of France and Switzerland. On his return to the United States 
in August, 1861, he entered the Virginia Military Institute at Lexington to 
round out his education. In 1862 he, with other students of that noted 
school, volunteered in the Confederate Army, and remained until the close 
of the War in 1865. His record as a soldier is an enviable one, to which 
his friends ‘‘ point with pride,’’ as he had participated in a number of 
hotly contested battles. After the close of hostilities between the States, 
he returned to his home at Martinsburg, began the study of law under the 
direction of his father; later he entered the law department of the Univer- 
sity of Virginia at Charlottesville, and graduated therefrom as a Bachelor 
of Laws, in the class of 1868, and was admitted to the Bar in September of 
that year. Being thoroughly educated in the fundamental principles of the 
law, and possessing many natural gifts, especially in public speaking, he 
soon took front rank among the able lawyers of the Berkeley County Bar. 

In 1880, he was elected Judge of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit, and was 
serving ably and satisfactorily in that responsible position, when he was 
elected to the United States Senate by the Legislature of West Virginia, 
without being a candidate. He entered upon the duties of that exalted 
position March 4, 1887. After serving the full term of six years, he was 
re-elected for a second term. During his twelve years in the National 
Legislature his record was both honorable and able. After retiring from the 


6 Bench and Bar of West Virgima 


Senate, Judge Faulkner resumed the practice of his profession, with offices 
at Martinsburg, West Virginia, and Washington, D. C. He has specialized 
in corporation laws, and is, at this time, Attorney for a large number of 
railroads and other large corporations of different sections of the United 
States. 

Senator Faulkner has been twice married, and resides, during the summer 
seasons, at the old Faulkner homestead in the City of Martinsburg, and 
the winter months are spent in the City of Washington. He is a thorough 
lawyer, and possesses superior natural abilities. He has applied himself to 
the study of his profession with all the vigor and assiduity which a love for 
the law inspires, and his success is the sure reward of ability and merit. 

Senator Faulkner is a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and 
is also a prominent Freemason, having served a term as Grand Master of the 
Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of West Virginia. 


Judge Mathew Dunbar 


We very much regret that the immediate relatives of this eminent lawyer 
and jurist (Judge Dunbar) have, themselves, passed into the great beyond, 
which places it beyond our power to give the merest outline of his distin- 
guished career. He was born in Monroe County, Virginia, in 1781. It is 
said he was well educated, and came to Kanawha County, when he was a 
young man, and read law in the office of James Wilson, who was a prominent 
member of the Charleston Bar, in the early part of the nineteenth century. 
He was known as a great student, and was not long in mastering the legal 
text books upon which he had to be examined. He was admitted to the 
Charleston Bar in 1818. He was not long, because of his studious habits 
and close attention to business, in attaining a high rank as a lawyer, among 
his associates. He is still by the older citizens of Kanawha County, kindly 
remembered, both as a lawyer and a judge of sterling integrity and honor. 

He was elected a member of the Virginia Legislature, first, in 1823, ana 
again in 1829-30. He was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Kanawha County 
in 1853, and afterwards served a term as Cireuit Judge. To all of these 
offices he gave his strict attention, and acquitted himself with honor and 
ability. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church, and died in 1859. 


Judge Thomas C. Green 


Judge John W. Green, father of the subject of this brief memoir, entered 
upon his duties of Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia, 
October 11, 1822, when his son Thomas was two years of age, who was born 
at Fredericksburg, November 5, 1820. Shortly, thereafter, the family moved 
to Culpeper County, where the son grew to manhood and was carefully and 


JUDGE THOMAS C. GREEN 


8 Bench and Bar of West Virgina 


thoroughly educated. He read law under the direction of his father, and 
in 1843 was admitted to the Virginia Bar, and located in Charlestown in 
Jefferson County, where he remained the greater part of his life. In 1861 
he joined the Confederate army as a private soldier, serving two years in 
General Thomas J. (Stonewall) Jackson’s brigade. He was then appointed 
Chief Collector of Virginia War Taxes, remaining in that position until 
the end of the war. At the close of hostilities he returned to Charlestown 
and entered, with great earnestness, upon the practice of his profession, 
in which he took a leading position. While in the Confederate army he 
served two terms in the Virginia Legislature. In 1876 he was appointed 
by Governor John J. Jacob a Justice on the Supreme Court of Appeals of 
West Virginia to fill the unexpired term of Judge James Paull, deceased, 
and in 1880 he was elected for the full term of twelve years as a member 
of that tribunal. He departed this life December 4, 1889, after having 
served most ably for fourteen years. 

Judge Green was universally regarded as one of the most erudite, broad- 
minded lawyers and jurists of his generation. No judge on any bench 
ever gave to the important questions submitted to him more complete and 
exhaustive research and consideration. He traced the law, step by step, 
through the various windings, down to the date of his opinions, considering 
and referring to the numerous authorities, English and American, pro 
and con, bearing thereon. His opinions are in volumes 9 to 33, inelusive, 
of the West Virginia Reports. The writer never heard but one criticism 
made on Judge Green’s work as a judge, and that was his opinions were 
too lengthy and too exhaustive. He seemingly could not stop without 
minutely considering every point in the case. Two cases deserve special 
attention, Radford v. Carwile, 13 W. Va. 572, on the rights of married 
women under West Virginia statutes, and Pegram v. Stortz, 31 W. Va. 222, 
on the question of damages. This is the longest opinion he ever wrote 
and covers 107 printed pages, and is quoted almost entire in the American 
and English Encyclopedia of Law. His opinions are widely quoted in the 
text books and reports of other States. 

In the discharge of his official duties his industry was patient and inde- 
fatigable. He loved pure mathematics, which is plainly displayed in all 
his processes of reasoning. He knew nothing of the parties to any con- 
troversy that came before him for decision. Plaintiffs and defendants 
were to him as impersonal as the letters of an equation, and he applied 
himself to the solutions of the questions presented as if he were searching 
for an unknown quantity. Truth was ever the object of his search, and 
he followed it with an unerring judgment. When engaged in the investi- 
gation of a judicial question, he would become so completely absorbed in 
the train of his thoughts as to cause him to forget the demands of physical 
comforts and bodily health, and this, no doubt, shortened his days. 

Judge Green could always be relied on with absolute confidence in those 
exigencies which require firmness and ability. No public clamor or fear 
of personal popularity could influence his conduct. Undemonstrative and 


Bench and Bar of West Virgina 9 


apparently indifferent for the regard of others, he was nevertheless kind 
hearted and fond of conversation and the society of his friends. His 
nature was simplicity itself; confidirig and loyal in his friendships, but 
firm and uncompromising in his convictions and duties. 

Judge Green married Miss Agnes McDonald, a daughter of Colonel Angus 
MeDonald, of Charlestown, shortly before the beginning of the war between 
the States, where he subsequently spent the greater portion of his life. 
They were both held in the highest esteem by the residents of that charming 
section of the ‘‘ Mountain State.’’ 

Judge Green was a Democrat in his political affiliations, but was so 
constantly absorbed in the business of his profession that he took only a 
passing interest in the political affairs of the State and Nation. 


Judge James Henry Brown 


One of the distinguished lawyers, statesmen and jurists of Virginia, 
before the State was divided, is the subject of this brief biographical 
sketch. He is of English ancestry, and was the son of Benjamin Brown, 
a native of Virginia; was born in Cabell County, Virginia, December 25, 
1818. His mother was a native of North Carolina, and was the daughter 
of Major Nathaniel Scales. He was educated at Marietta College, Ohio, 
and Augusta College, Kentucky, and from the latter well known institution 
he graduated in the class of 1840. In person he was tall (a little more 
than six feet) and was always, even in later life, as erect as an Indian. 
He was also sinewy and active. Up almost to the period of his last illness 
his step was as elastic as a man of forty, or even less. 

He read law under the direction of John Laidley, a prominent attorney 
of Cabell County, and in 1842, after two years of careful study of legal 
text books, he was admitted to membership of the Cabell County Bar, and 
promptly began the practice of his chosen profession. He was a natural 
orator, and it was not long until he took a*leading rank as a superior 
advocate, and a forceful and effective trial lawyer. Desirous of a wider 
field of operations and better opportunities for development of his talents, 
he located at Charleston, Kanawha County, in 1848, where he spent the 
major portion of his life in the ardent practice of his profession. He was 
always regarded as a man of the highest sense of honor and probity; was 
thoroughly reliable in all his statements and dealings; was a hard student, 
and was a careful and honorable counselor. It is no wonder, therefore, 
that his clientele soon grew to large proportions. His practice was in both 
State and National courts, and covered all the branches of the law, and 
extended into all of the surrounding counties. He was universally regarded 
as an all round, able and successful lawyer. 

Judge Brown, though a Democrat, took an active stand for the Union 
in 1860 and ’61, and was one of the leaders in the formation ot the new 


10 Bench and Bar of West Virgina 


Commonwealth of West Virginia; was a member of all the conventions 
looking to the building of the State; was elected a member of the Legis- 
lature of the Restored Government of Virginia, May 23, 1861, from 
Kanawha County, amid the turmoil of a divided county, and addressed 
many meetings when his hearers were armed for personal protection. He 
was an eloquent stump speaker and a fearless defender of his political 
faith. He became an ardent Republican and was a member of the Con- 
vention that framed the first Constitution of the State of West Virginia. 
In the winter of 1861 and ’62 he was elected and commissioned Judge 
of the Eighteenth Judicial Cireuit of Virginia. While acting in this 
capacity the records of his courts in several of the counties of his circuit, 
as fast as they were made, were captured and destroyed, and on several 
occasions he narrowly escaped the repeated efforts that were made to 
capture the Court. It is claimed, and we believe correctly, that no appeal 
from any of his decisions was ever taken to a higher court. As a judge 
he was courteous,, firm and fearless. 

May 28, 1863, he was elected an Associate Judge of the Supreme Court 
of Appeals of the new State of West Virginia. On this court he exhibited 
the same firm and wise qualities as revealed by him on the bench of the 
nisi prius court. He served with great acceptability until the close of his 
term. He was by nature and education fitted for the law. He carried to 
a high degree the power of convincing statement. His opinions are models 
of good English. His supreme desire was to be just, and nothing could 
swerve him from doing right, as he was able to see the right. When he 
retired from the bench he returned to active practice, and kept it up until 
a short time before his death, which occurred at his home in Charleston, 
October 28, 1900. 

Judge Brown was twice a candidate for Congress, but his Congressional 
District, being strongly Democratic at that time, he was both times 
defeated, but he ran ahead of his ticket on both occasions. In 1882 he 
was elected a member of the Legislature of West Virginia, and took an 
active part in shaping the legislation of that session. 

In 1844 he married Miss Louise Beuhring and reared a large family. 
One of his sons— James F. Brown —is one of the ablest lawyers of the 
entire State. Judge Brown was an ardent member of the Presbyterian 
Church, and for about half a century was a ruling elder of that denomi- 
nation. However, in matters of religion, he favored the largest liberty 
of conscience. He at all times had the implicit confidence of all people 
who knew him. and he was for a-half century one of the best known men 
of the Great Kanawha Valley. 

Judge Brown late in life, and many years after the death of his first 
wife, married the widow of the late Fayette A. Lovell, who was in life a 
member of the Kanawha County Bar, and she survived him several years. 
They had no cttspring. She too passed into the ‘‘ Great Beyond ’’ a few 
years subsequent to his demise. 


JUDGE JAMES H. BROWN 


12 Bench and Bar of West Virgina 


Hon. John Harper Riley 


The subject of this sketch, son of Robert and Elizabeth (Cleek) Riley, 
was born and reared on a farm in Jackson County, Virginia; as to the 
date, he informed the writer, that ‘‘ He is advised he should not think 
himself old, nor tell his age, but just to keep on keepin’ on,’’ and this 
he is doing splendidly, because although he is past seventy he could readily 
pass for fifty-five or sixty. His father was a Whig, but at the demise of 
that party he became a Republican, and our subject followed in his foot- 
steps, and has always been a Republican, but has never been an office- 
seeker. The father was a prominent man in his community; was County 
Assessor for a number of years and held other county offices of trust. 
John’s elder brother was Clerk of the Cireuit Court of Jackson County 
for a term of years, and our subject was a Deputy for him and also for 
his father. His education was limited to county and subscription schools, 
but he was ambitious and aspiring and consequently kept on reading and 
studying, thus storing his mind with the kind of knowledge that would 
be useful in after years. While employed in the Clerk’s office he was 
advised by the Circuit Court Judge — R. 8. Brown —to take up the study 
of law, which he did with earnestness and vigor, and while thus engaged 
he filled the offices of County Treasurer, and Justice of the Peace, the 
latter being in the direct line of his contemplated profession. In about 
two years he was able to stand an examination for admission to the Bar. 
After receiving his license as an attorney, which was signed by Judges 
Brown, Loomis and Hoge, he was admitted as a member of the Jackson 
County Bar in 1869. He formed a partnership with U. S. Flesher, who 
was at that time Prosecuting Attorney of the county, and thus became 
his Assistant. Mr. Flesher died the following August and Mr. Riley was 
appointed to fill the unexpired term. He was then elected Prosecuting 
Attorney for a full term and served with great acceptability and success. 
While discharging the functions of this office he became generally known 
in Jackson and adjoining counties as one of the best known attorneys in 
that section of the State, and his reputation was therefore fixed for the 
future. 

Mr. Riley was elected to the West Virginia Legislature in 1876 and 
again in 1880, and served with distinction and efficiency. During the latter 
year he was chosen one of the two delegates at large from West Virginia 
to the National Republican Convention, which nominated James A. Garfield 
for President of the United States. He married Miss Melissa J. Harpold, 
of Jackson County, and they had four children—two sons and two 
daughters—three of whom are lving and one son is deceased. In 
October, 1882, he removed his residence to Marietta, Ohio, mainly for the 
purpose of educating his children at Marietta College. Im 1892 he was 
sent as a delegate to the Republican National Convention that renominated 
Benjamin Harrison for the Presidency. In 1896 he was elected a member 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 13 


of the State Senate of Ohio, and in 1911 he was elected a member of the 
Fourth Constitutional Convention of the State of Ohio. In these positions 
he served ably and honorably and to the entire satisfaction of his 
constituents. , 

For many years Mr. Riley has been an active and progressive member 
of the Masonic Fraternity, and before he moved to Marietta he received 
the highest honor the eraft could confer upon him —that of Grand Master 
—and he never fails to attend its annual communications and actively par- 
ticipate in its deliberations. Since locating in Ohio he has engaged in 
agriculture, grazing and fruit raising, and has made quite a reputation as 
a real ‘‘ granger ’’ as well as a lawyer. He possesses large property hold- 
ings and through a long and useful life not a stain of dishonor has ever 
soiled his spotless character. 


Hon. Charles Wells Russell 


Hon. Charles W. Russell was a distinguished man in Northwestern 
Virginia prior to the rebellion. He was a man of unusual brilliancy as 
well as the possessor of solid parts and great learning. He was dis- 
tinguished both in law and in politics, and possessed almost unlimited 
influence among the people of his section of the State. He died just as 
his sun had reached its noon, and left an untarnished name as a heritage 
to his devoted family. 

Mr. Russell was born at Sistersville, Tyler County, Virginia, July 19, 
1818. During his earlier years he received a common school education, 
and as he was growing into manhood he went to Wheeling and became a 
student at Linsly Institute, and later finished his general education by 
graduating from Jefferson College at Cannonsburgh, Pennsylvania. He 
subsequently studied law in the office of the late Z. Jacob at Wheeling; 
and after being admitted to the bar practiced his profession in Wheeling, 
with unusual success, until the breaking out of the war in 1861. He then 
went South and served two, if not three, terms in the Virginia Legisla- 
ture. He was also a member of the House of Representatives in both the 
‘¢ Provisional ’’ and the ‘‘ Permanent ’’ Congress of the Southern Con- 
federacy. In these Legislative and forensic bodies, as well as at the bar, 
his great powers as an orator and debator were demonstrated. In these 
particulars but few of the great Virginians of his time were his equal. 

At the end of the war he went to Canada, where he remained until the 
Spring of 1866, when he settled in Baltimore, and resumed the practice 
of law. He was becoming well established as a leading attorney at that 
distinguished bar when he died, November 22, 1867, leaving a widow and 
three sons. 

He married Margaret, daughter of the late Henry Moore of Wheeling, 
and had three sons, two of whom— Henry Moore Russell — who practiced 


14 Bench and Bar of West Virguua 


law in the city of Wheeling, and became one of the leading lawyers of 
that section, and, as a matter of fact, of the entire State of West Virginia, 
who died before reaching the age of sixty, in the midst of his usefulness 
and success. The other son, Charles W. Russell, Jr., who spent many years 
as an attorney in the Judiciary Department at Washington, and for several 
years ably filled the office as an Assistant Attorney-General of the United 
States. He was also several years Minister of the United States at the 
capitol of Persia, and is at this time a resident of Washington, D. C. 
Henry M. Russell, Jr., son of the late Henry M. Russell, is now a successful 
lawyer in the city of Wheeling. 


Hon. John S. Carlile 


Mr. Carlile was born at Winchester, Virginia, December 16, 1817. He 
was educated by his mother, who was a woman of high culture, until he 
was fourteen years of age. He then entered a dry goods store as salesman 
and clerk, remaining till his seventeenth year, when he commenced busi- 
ness for himself. At an early age, having a decided taste for the profes- 
sion, he began the study of law, was admitted to the bar in 1840, settled 
at Beverly, Randolph County, and began practice. He was elected to the 
Senate of Virginia in 1847, and served until 1851. His associates were not 
long in finding in Mr. Carlile a man of untiring energy, a close student, a 
diligent legislator, and a ready and forceful debater. He took a leading 
rank in the Senate, which was filled with the ablest men of Virginia. In 
1850 he was elected a delegate from Randolph County to the Constitutional 
Convention to revise the Constitution of the State. In this body of learned 
and distinguished Virginians Mr. Carlle’s splendid natural abilities, added 
to his experience of four years in the Senate, made him influential, and 
placed him along side of the ablest men in that body. The people by this 
time recognized Mr. Carlile’s commanding abilities, and in 1855 nominated 
him as a candidate for Congress and elected him in one of the most 
spirited campaigns peculiar to that day. He served one term and returned 
to the practice of his profession, which had become large and lucrative. 

To secure better opportunities for the display of his superior legal attain- 
ments Mr. Carlile removed his residence to Clarksburg, Harrison County. 
He was employed in all the important cases in litigation in County, 
Cireuit, Federal and Supreme Courts in that portion of the State, and 
accordingly achieved great distinction as a member of the bar. At the 
breaking out of the war he was an avowed Unionist, and threw all of his 
great powers on the side of the Government. He was a member of the 
Wheeling Convention that established the Restored Government of Vir- 
ginia, and was one of the leading spirits in all of its councils. He was 
elected to the Thirty-seventh Congress from the Wheeling District in 1861, 
and remained a member until his promotion to the Senate of the United 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 15 


States, the latter part of that year, from the Restored Government of 
Virginia. While in the Senate he served as a member of the Committee 
on Public Lands and Territories. His Senatorial term expired in 1865, 
when he retired to private life at Clarksburg and resumed the practice of 
his profession. 

As an orator Mr. Carlile had but few, if any, superiors in Virginia. He 
died at his home in Clarksburg in 1878. While it is true that Senator 
Carlile is regarded most as a statesman, yet he was universally esteemed 
as an eminent and successful lawyer, and was an honor to the profession 
in and outside of the ‘‘ Mountain State.’’ He was unusually talented, and 
maintained a high rank both as a lawyer and a statesman. 


Judge William A. Harrison 


Judge Harrison, the senior member of the first Supreme Court of Appeals 
of the State of West Virginia, was born in Prince William County, 
Virginia, August 27, 1795. His education was obtained in the schools of 
that section. He, however, was ambitious and was an earnest seeker after 
knowledge, and consequently used every facility within his reach to store 
his mind with such knowledge as would be of value to him in after life. 
At an early age he chose the law for his profession, and all the books he 
read, and really mastered, were in that direction. In this way he pieced 
out what, in that day, was considered a fairly good education for even a 
professional man. He, therefore, may be classed as a self-educated and self- 
made man. He read law under the guidance of his brother-in-law, Obed 
Waits, of Winchester, Virginia, one of his most valued friends and helpers 
in time of need. In 1819 he was sufficiently informed in the fundamental 
principles of the profession to enable him to pass a creditable examination 
for admission to the Winchester Bar. Shortly after his admission he came 
to Parkersburg, Wood County, on the Ohio River, and entered upon the 
practice of his chosen profession. The first circuit in which he practiced 
was presided over by Judge Daniel Smith, which was composed of the 
Counties of Rockingham, Pendleton, Preston, Monongalia, Brooke, Ohio, 
Tyler, Wood, Lewis and Harrison. This circuit embraced all the territory 
between the Pennsylvania line and the Little Kanawha River. The custom 
of that period was for the aspiring attorneys to travel with the judge and 
attend all of the courts embraced in the Judicial Circuit twice a year. In 
this way lawyers of ability and industry managed to secure a paying 
practice, and young Harrison, who possessed many natural gifts, sueceeded 
in picking up more than his share of the cases disposed of on these various 
swings around the circuit. 

In 1821 he moved to Clarksburg, Harrison County, and thereafter made 
that town his permanent home, and remained there up to the time of his 
death, which occurred December 31, 1870. In 1823 he was appointed 


16 Bench and Bar of West Virgina 


Assistant United States District Attorney for the Western District of 
Virginia, which office he filled acceptably and ably, traveling on horseback 
iwice a year to Wytheville to attend upon the sessions of the court. After 
the establishment of the Court of Appeals of Virginia at Lewisburg in 
Greenbrier County, he practiced regularly at its bar until the breaking out 
oi the Civil War in 1861. His practice, during a long, successful life, was 
one of immense labor, requiring great research and profound investigation. 
He appeared, during his career, before seven Federal Judges, fifteen Cir- 
cuit Judges, and twelve judges of the Supreme Court of Appeals of Vir- 
ginia. He was elected a member of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West 
Virginia after the formation of the State in 1863, and served with great 
ability. 

Judge Harrison was a Union man and a Republican, but was never a 
politician. He preferred the calm and dignified contests of the bar to the 
more animated scenes incident to partisan warfare. He, however, repre- 
sented Harrison County three terms in the Legislature of Virginia in ante 
bellum days. He was also United States Attorney for the Western Dis- 
trict, and Prosecuting Attorney of Harrison County, one term in each 
office. When the Civil War came on in 1861 he took a firm stand for the 
Union, and was one of the leaders in the erection of the new Common- 
wealth of West Virginia. The Circuit Judge of the Harrison County Dis- 
trict was vacated by its judge going with the South, and Judge Harrison 
was elected that year (1861) to fill out his term, which position he ocecu- 
pied until elected a member of the Supreme Court of Appeals of the new 
State in 1863. 

He was an able and a just judge, and ranked among the leading lawyers 
of his time. He was of large stature and commanding presence; in religious 
convictions he was a Presbyterian; was married and left a large family 
of honored citizens; one of his sons, Thomas W. Harrison, became a promi- 
nent citizen and was one of Harrison County’s distinguished Cireuit Court 
Judges. No better people can be found anywhere than the immediate 
descendants of William A. Harrison. 


Hon. James A. Brown 


James A. Brown, one of the able attorneys of Kingwood, Preston County, 
and son of Thomas Brown, was born June 11, 1836. He was educated 
liberally, graduated at Washington College, Pennsylvania, and subsequently 
attended the University of Virginia. He read law with his father and the 
Hon. John A. Dille, and was admitted to the Bar in 1859; was elected 
Prosecuting Attorney of Preston County, and filled the office with general 
satisfaction from 1861 to 1863. In 1880 he was chosen as the Republican 
candidate for Judge of the Third Circuit, receiving a flattering majority 
in his own, but was defeated by the Democratic majorities of the other 
counties. He was a man of irreproachable personal character and was a 


successful practitioner. 


JUDGE WILLIAM A. HARRISON 


18 Bench and Bar of West Virgina 


Judge Edwin S. Duncan 


Judge Duncan, of Clarksburg, is remembered by the older people of that 
city as one of the ablest lawyers and jurists of the first half of the last 
century. He was born in Shenandoah County, Virginia, in 1790, and was 
educated in the schools of that section. He came to Randolph County, in 
the western part of the State, where he read law and was admitted 
to the bar at Beverly, the seat of justice of that county, about the year 
of 1812. He was a man of large natural endowments, and in a very short 
time became an attorney of distinction. He served for a short time as 
chief of staff in Col. Booth’s Virginia regiment during the second war with 
Great Britain, shortly after his admission to the bar in 1812. After the 
close of the war he returned to Beverly and resumed his practice; but being 
desirous to secure a broader field of operations for a young lawyer of high 
ambitions, he removed his law office to Clarksburg in Harrison County in 
1816 and began to practice there. He also opened an office at Weston in 
Lewis County, twenty-six miles distant, and had but little trouble in find- 
ing clients there as well as at Clarksburg. His residence, however, was 
in the latter town. He was elected Prosecuting Attorney for Lewis County 
in the fall of 1816, and in 1820 he was elected to the State Senate of 
Virginia from the district of which Harrison and Lewis were a part; was 
appointed United States District Attorney for the Western District of 
Virginia in 1824, and served four years; was elected a member of the 
Constitutional Convention of 1829-30; was later elected a Judge of the 
General Court of Virginia and of the Eighteenth Cireuit in 1831; was 
appointed by the Governor to represent Virginia at the World’s Fair in 
London, England, in 1851, and after his return from this service he retired 
to private life at Clarksburg. He departed this life February 4, 1858, and 
is still referred to as one of the eminent lawyers and judges of that 
prosperous city. 

Judge Duncan lived an upright, honorable life, and left his impress for 
good and exalted citizenship in that portion of the State where he spent a 
long and useful life. He never devoted any of his energies to polities, but 
preferred to spend all of his time in the profession which he made a 
special life work. He was truly a learned lawyer and an incorruptible 
judge. His prominent characteristics were a strong will, sound judgment, 
a large fund of humor, a keen knowledge of human nature, rigid devotion 
to what he believed to be right, and an integrity of character that riches 
dared not attempt to bribe and could not corrupt. His character was 
beautiful in simplicity and gentleness. 

A number of his descendants are residents of Clarksburg and Harrison 
County. He was a man of medium stature and carried an air of greatness 
as he moved among the people. He was, in every respect, a truly repre- 
sentative citizen and stood for the highest ideals in life and character. 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 19 


Judge John J. Allen 


Judge Allen for many years was one of the most distinguished lawyers 
and jurists of Western Virginia. He was born at Woodstock, Shenandoah 
County, Virginia, September 25, 1797. His father, Judge James Allen, 
was also an able lawyer and jurist and was eminent in his day and gener- 
ation. The subject of this brief sketch was educated at Washington 
College, Lexington, Virginia, and Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania. 
He read law under the guidance of his father and was admitted to the 
practice in the courts of the Valley of Virginia. In 1819 he located at 
Clarksburg in the western part of the State and began the practice of his 
profession in Harrison and adjoining counties. Being thoroughly equipped 
he was not long in forging to the front and securing employment in 
important litigations of those early days. Indeed by ability and learning 
he very soon found employment on one side or the other in most big law 
suits in the three or four counties in which he practiced. Late in the 
twenties he formed a partnership with Gideon D. Camden, also a lawyer 
of prominence at Clarksburg, which continued for eight or ten years, until 
Mr. Allen in 1836 was appointed a Judge of the Cireuit Court of Virginia, 
when he retired from the firm. 

In 1827 Judge Allen was elected to the State Senate, and while a member 
of that body he introduced a bill, which afterwards became a law, for the 
settlement of land titles, in trans-Allegheny, Virginia. In 1834 he was 
elected Commonwealth’s Attorney for the counties of Harrison, Lewis and 
Preston. At the same time he was a member of the 23d Congress, serving 
from 1833 to 1835. In all of the public positions he held he was faithful, 
honorable and able. He married in 1824. Although he was extremely 
reserved while in public life, he was gentle, affectionate and communica- 
tive in his social relations with his family and friends, and was firm and 
sincere in his religious convictions. He was appointed a Circuit Judge in 
1836, and removed his residence to Botetourt County, and was promoted 
to the Supreme Court of Appeals in December, 1840. He died at Fincastle 
in 1871. He was an ardent secessionist at the beginning of the war, and 
retired from active life in 1865. He was a member of the Supreme Court 
for a quarter of a century, and his opinions show him to be a man of vast 
erudition. He was, beyond question, an able and just Judge, and his 
private and public life were above reproach. 


Judge George Hay Lee 


Judge Lee was one of the eminent lawyers and jurists of Western 
Virginia. He was born at Winchester in the Shenandoah Valley in 1807, 
and was educated at the University of Virginia, and graduated about 
1830, and soon thereafter was admitted to the bar. In 1831 he located at 


20 Bench and Bar of West Virgima 


Clarksburg, Harrison County, in the western part of the State, and prac- 
ticed his profession with great success until the time of his death, which 
occurred November 20, 1873. He was learned in the law, and for nearly a 
half century maintained a high rank among the members of the profession 
prior to and after the division of the State. For a number of years he 
and the late Judge Mathew Edmiston, of Weston, Lewis County, were 
partners in the practice, with offices at Clarksburg, Weston and Parkers- 
burg. Both of them being men of unusual ability, the firm was employed 
on one side or the other, of most, if not all, of the important causes in all 
of the courts in the half dozen or more counties of the interior section of 
what is now the State of West Virginia. Judge Lee is remembered as one 
of the ablest of office lawyers or pleaders of his day, while Judge Edmiston 
was noted as a trial lawyer or advocate, thus giving the firm unusual prom- 
inence, and rendering them almost invincible as trial lawyers in all classes 
of cases. 

Judge Lee was twice elected a member of the Legislature of Virginia 
from Harrison County while he was comparatively a young man, and was 
also Prosecuting Attorney of Harrison County for one or more terms. 
Later he served a full term as United States District Attorney for the 
Western District of Virginia, and was an able and faithful official. He 
was next appointed a Circuit Judge by the Legislature, where he developed 
superior qualities as a jurist. His decisions were clear, pointed and strong, 
and clearly showed that he possessed, in a marked degree, the judicial 
temperament. In 1850 the Constitution of Virginia was amended so as to 
require the election of all judges by the people, and Judge Lee was elected 
one of the judges of the Supreme Court of Appeals of the State. In this 
appellate position he served with great acceptability until the close of his 
term. He returned to Clarksburg and resumed the practice of his pro- 
fession, which he kept up, in important causes, until the time of his death, 
as stated above in 1873. He was tall of stature, wore a long beard, and 
was a commanding figure in any gathering of men. He was also a man 
of exalted character, and commanding influence in both of the Virginias. 
His integrity was absolutely above reproach. Rarely is there found in the 
ranks of men one so symmetrical in mind and character, one so sound in 
judgment, so unerring in moral perception, so faithful to every duty, and 
so loyal to the right, as he, through his entire career. His life as a lawyer 
and a jurist, whether judged by reference to labor performed, pecuniary 
gain or fame, he stood in the forefront of his profession. 

He was twice married and had six children, three daughters and three 
sons, all of whom but one are now deceased. He lived in a palatial home 
on Lee Street in the city of Clarksburg, where forty-two years of his life 
were spent. 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 21 


Hon. Waitman T. Willey, LL.D. 


Mr. Willey, although for many years an able and successful lawyer, is 
best known as a public official and a statesman of prominence and worth. 
He was for many years, prior to his death, regarded by the public generally 
as one of the really great characters to whom West Virginians, without 
regard to political affiliations, pointed with pride. He was born on Buffalo 
Creek, Monongalia County, Virginia, October 18, 1811. He was reared on 
a farm until he reached the age of seventeen, when he entered Madison 
College, now Alleghany College, Meadville, Pennsylvania, from which he 
graduated, cum laude, in June, 1831. At college he was rated as a hard 
working student, but was noted most for his gifts of oratory. He was 
recognized not only as the towering orator of his class, but of the entire 
college as well. All through his long and useful life he ranked as one 
of the very greatest public speakers of both Virginias. This wonderful 
gift made him almost invincible as an advocate and court house trial lawyer. 
He read law for two years in the office of the distinguished Philip Dodd- 
ridge, at Wellsburg, Brooke County, who was one of the greatest lawyers of 
his generation, and was admitted to the Bar of Monongalia County in 
September, 1833; he immediately opened a law office and began to practice. 
He was not long in getting his share, and more of the law business of the 
community. He was well known, not only as a well educated and eloquent 
man, but his standing among the people was that of one who was thoroughly 
upright, conscientious and reliable. From his boyhood up, there was not a 
blot upon his moral character, and his veracity was absolutely unim- 
peachable, and this sort of a reputation and character were continuously 
and constantly the same until the end of his great career. A lawyer of that 
sort, will never be required to hunt clients, or drum up supporters or 
followers among the people. The truth is, Mr. Willey was so often sought 
after by the people, to fill highly important public positions that he 
scarcely was allowed the necessary time to attend to his own private affairs. 

In 1840, he was an elector on the Harrison and Tyler ticket, and was 
required to stump the entire Western part of the state for the Whig party. 
He was the Clerk of both the County and Cireuit Courts of Law and 
Chanchery of Monongalia County, from 1841 to 1852; was a member of the 
State Constitutional Convention in 1850—’51; was the Whig candidate for 
Congress for his District in 1852; was the Whig candidate for Lieutenant- 
Governor of Virginia in 1859; he was a delegate to the National Convention 
in 1860 that nominated Bell and Everett for President and Vice-President; 
was a member of the Virginia Convention of 1861, and voted against the 
Ordinance of Secession; he ably aided in organizing the Restored Govern- 
ment of Virginia at the City of Wheeling; was elected United States 
Senator by said Restored Government; was a member of the Convention 
that framed the first Constitution of West Virginia; was elected one of the 
two United States Senators, and drew the short term of two years. At the 


bo 
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Bench and Bar of West Virgima 


expiration of said term, he was re-elected to the Senate for the full term of 
six years, which expired March 4, 1871. How could one practice law very — 
extensively with all these public duties loaded upon him? And yet a good 
part of the time, he maintained a large practice. 

In 1834 Senator Willey married Miss Elizabeth Ray, of the City of 
Wheeling. He was an active and faithtful member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church; was always a leader on the moral side of every important 
question that came before the people during his entire life. Allegheny 
College and the West Virginia University each conferred upon him the 
honorary degree of Doctor of Laws. After his retirement from the Senate, 
he was Clerk of the Cireuit Court of Monongalia County, which furnished 
him all the necessary comforts of life. He died at his home in Morgantown 
when he was nearly ninety years of age, and was mourned by all classes of 
the citizens of the city. He was six feet three and a-half inches tall, and 
was one of the most powerful athletes of his generation. 


Hon. Arthur I. Boreman 


Among the distinguished men of West Virginia who were leaders, not only 
in the legal profession but figured prominently in the organization of the 
State, was the subject of this sketch. He was born in Waynesburg, Pennsyl- 
vania, July 24, 1823. In boyhood he came to Virginia, and after receiving a 
common school education, he read law with his elder brother, William I. Bore- 
man, at Middlebourn, Tyler County, and was admitted to the Bar in May, 
1843. In November of that year, he located at Parkersburg, where he con- 
tinued to reside, until the day of his death, when he was about eighty years 
of age. For many years he was a Whig in his political convictions, but 
became a Republican at the organization of that party, and remained in 
that political party the remainder of his life. He was a tireless worker, a 
man of unlimited energy, of sleepless industry, of absolute courage and dur- 
ing his entire life there was never an aspersion, or an attack of any sort on 
his moral character. His long public and private life were noted for integrity, 
uprightness and usefulness. He was successful as a lawyer, and was 
thoroughly honorable in all of his dealings with his fellow men. He was a 
man of positive convictions, and was, during all of his mature years, sought 
by the people for counsel and advice. 

In 1855 he was elected from Wood County a member of the Virginia 
Legislature, and was successively re-elected until 1860, and was a member 
of that distinguished body in 1861 when the question of secession was 
discussed, and his opposition to that movement was conspicuous. During 
that year he presided over the Wheeling Convention that organized the 
Restored Government of Virginia. In October, 1861, he was elected a 
Cireuit Judge of the Parkersburg Circuit, and discharged the functions 
of that office ably, until his election in 1863 as the first Governor of the 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 23 


new State of West Virginia. Two years later he was re-elected to the same 
high office, serving both terms honorably and ably. In 1868 he was elected 
to the United States Senate, and was regarded as a faithful and able 
Senator. After retiring from a six-year term as a Senator he returned to 
Parkersburg, reopened his law office, and was re-establishing a profitable 
practice; without the asking on his part, he was elected Judge of the 
Cireuit Court over which he had presided a quarter of a century before. 
As a lawyer he was able, and as a Judge he was fair and just, and was 
absolutely incorruptible. He ended his days on the Bench he had highly 
honored in his early and later life. He was for many years, a leading 
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and was a delegate to its 
General Conference in 1888. He married Mrs. Lauraine Bullock, November 
30, 1864, but left no direct descendants. 


General James S. Wheat 


General Wheat came to Wheeling from Washington, D. C. in 1830, and 
was admitted as a member of the Ohio County Bar shortly after his arrival. 
He at once became prominent as an attorney. He was a man of culture 
and refinement, and courtly and faultness in his manner; consequently he 
was not long in taking a front rank among his associate attorneys. 
While he was not considered as profound and learned in the profession as 
some of his compeers, he was nevertheless one of the best equipped attorneys 
of his day. He was a ready and fluent speaker, and on all important public 
occasions, he was much in demand as a public speaker. Being an orator, 
his special power was as an advocate and trial lawyer. He was so fluent 
and ready in speech, it was difficult to take him by surprise, or in any way 
to discomfit him. He was self-asserting, self-reliant and courageous, and 
generally was able to extricate himself from any temporary embarrassment 
thrust upon him by opposing counsel in any important court trial. He 
was a ready and effective debater, and was a Lord Chesterfield in courteous- 
ness and suavity. He was popular with his associates at the Bar, and 
was particularly strong in arguing jury cases. He was not a native of 
Virginia, but was highly educated on general subjects and was well read 


in the law. 
He came to West Virginia about the time of the breaking out of the war, 


and being an intense Union man, he promptly fell in with the Union people 
of Western Virginia to prevent Virginia from seceeding from the General 
Government. He, therefore, became a leader in the movement of that 
period to organize what was termed the Restored Government of Virginia 
at Wheeling. He was a delegate to the Convention, and was an important 
factor in establishing said Government, which ultimately resulted in 
bringing West Virginia into the Great Sisterhood of States in June, 1863. 
He was elected Attorney-General of the Restored Government of Virginia, 
and served as such, until the new State of West Virginia was brought into 


24 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


existence by the Congress of the United States. General Wheat was one of 
the minute men of that trying period, whose eminent services will not soon 
be forgotten. In 1872, he was a delegate from Ohio County, to the 
Convention at Charleston which framed a second Constitution for West 
Virginia, and was an important factor in that body of distinguished men. 

General Wheat was never an office seeker. He, doubtless, would have 
been kept in office constantly, if his consent could have been secured. He 
was a man of great popularity. The people rallied around him continuously. 
He, however, preferred the law to politics, and, therefore, stuck closely to 
his calling. His business was large and profitable. He was a man of a 
high sense of honor and integrity. The people trusted him implicity, and 
he never deceived them. He was public spirited and delighted in the 
prosperity and progress of his city, county and state. He was industrious, 
and kept his working harness on until the final call reached him, thus 
ending a useful, successful and honorable career. 


Judge John Brannon 


Among the really great lawyers and jurists of West Virginia, now 
deceased, the subject of this brief sketch must be classed. He was born 
at Winchester, Virginia, October 19, 1822. His ancestors on both his 
paternal and maternal sides were engaged in the Revoluntionary War for 
American Independence. His Grandfather Brannon was a native of Ireland, 
and his father was a thrifty farmer in the valley of Virginia, where he was 
recognized as a man of sterling integrity and of high moral character in 
the citizenship of that highly cultured community. Mr. Brannon received 
a thorough academic training in the Winchester Academy, a well-known, 
high grade classical school of that section of Virginia, where a large number 
of the prominent, influential men of ‘‘ The Mother State ’’ received their 
educational training. Shortly after his graduation from this educational 
institution, the Brannon family moved their residence to Lewis County, 
now West Virginia, and established a home in Weston, the county seat of 
that very rich and prosperous county. Our subject before he left Winchester 
had already begun the study of law, and was pursuing it diligently, which 
he continued at Weston, and after passing a creditable examination, was 
admitted to the Bar in 1847. He rapidly acquired a leading, profitable 
practice. He was a solid, sedate, honorable man in all of his dealings, 
and possessed the implicit confidence of the general public, who entrusted 
their business to his management and supervision. It was not long, there- 
fore, until he stood at the head of that able, progressive Bar. 

He was in politics a Whig, and was elected to the Legislature of Virginia, 
serving therein ably from 1853 to 1857. He was then promoted by an 
appreciative constituency to the State Senate from 1857 to 1865. In both 
branches of the State Legislature he was regarded as an able and careful 
legislator. After the close of the Civil War he allied himself with the 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


bo 
Or 


Democratic Party, and in 1872 he was elected a Circuit Judge, serving the 
full term of eight years. Being thoroughly informed in all branches of the 
law, and being absolutely honest and just, he proved to be satisfactory to 
both lawyers and litigants. He was urged to accept a second term, but 
courteously declined and returned to the practice of the law at Weston. 
In 1884 and 1886 he was the nominee of the Democratic Party for a seat 
in the American Congress, but was both times defeated by Gen. Nathan 
Goff, the Republican candidate, by a majority each time of a little more 
than two hundred. The Legislature came within two or three votes of elect- 
ing him to the Senate of the United States. 

He married a Miss Bland of Weston, and was a member of the Protestant 
Episcopal Church. He departed this life-at about eighty years of age. No 
man in Lewis County was more highly respected than he. 


Hon. William G. Brown 


The ancestry of this branch of the Brown family was Scotch. From 
Edinburgh, James Brown came to Virginia, in 1790, and located in Monon- 
galia County. William G., his fourth son, was born September 25, 1800. 
He studied law with Oliver Phelps and J. H. Samuels, of Parkersburg, 
Virginia; was admitted to the Bar of Preston County, Virginia, in 1828; 
served as Prosecuting Attorney of Preston County for several terms, until 
1832; supported Andrew Jackson for the Presidency every time he was a 
candidate; was a member of the Legislature of Virginia in 1832, 1840-1—2-3; 
was elected a member of Congress in 1845, and was re-elected in 1847; was 
a member of the Constitutional Convention of Virginia in 1850; was a 
delegate to the Richmond Convention of 1861, which adopted the Ordinance 
of Secession, but he voted against its adoption. He participated in the 
Wheeling Convention that organized ‘‘ The Restored Government Virginia,’’ 
and saved Western Virginia to the Union, and was elected to the 37th 
Congress as a Representative of the Restored Government of Virginia, and 
was the first Representative from the 2d Congressional District of West 
Virginia, after she was admitted to statehood. He was a member of the 
Convention of 1872 that framed the second Constitution for West Virginia. 
He was also elected to the Legislature of 1872-3. He was a man of the 
highest character, and always had the implicit confidence of all his fellow 
citizens. He was also known and recognized as one of the ablest and most 
successful lawyers of his period. 

Mr. Brown died at Kingwood at an advanced age, and left a widow and 
one son William G. Brown, Jr.— who was also a very successful lawyer and 
a resident of Preston County all of his life. He was serving his third term 
in Congress, from his father’s old district, when in 1916, death took him in 
his prime of strength, usefulness and success in life. 

Both of them were Democrats of the strictest sect, although the elder 
Brown, who was a staunch Union man, acted with the Republicans until 


26 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


after the close of the Civil War, when he returned to his first love — the 
Democratic Party. ‘‘ Junior ’’ Brown, as he was always called, from his 
boyhood, adhered to the Democratic party. Both of them were men of 
wealth, as well as of influence and high standing in the State. 


Hon. James Morrow, Jr. 


Few citizens of the State have made greater impress upon the community 
in which Providence placed them than the subject of this brief sketch. 
He was born in Brooke County, Virginia, May 26, 1837. His boyhood was 
passed upon his father’s farm, and in the neighborhood schools. Ohio and 
Pennsylvania both contributed to a classic education of later years; he 
studied law as opportunity occurred for several years, and in 1862 was 
admitted to the Bar of Illinois. In 1865 he began practice in Fairmount, 
West Virginia. Marion county electors chose him to represent their interests 
in the Legislature in 1871, and again in 1881. In the House he was 
popular and influential in shaping the legislation of those years, serving on 
the important Committee of the Judiciary. He was one of the Special 
Court in the contest case of Harrison against Lewis for Judge of the 
Second Cireuit, and voiced the opinion of the majority of the Court; and 
was counsel for Auditor Bennett and Treasurer Burdett in their attempted 
impeachment before the West Virginia Senate in 1875-6. Urbane in 
manners, strict in integrity, Democratic, but conservative, in polities, and 
properly ambitious for exalted responsibilities, however difficult or labor- 
ious, yet modest in urging his own preferment, he was peculiarly sensitive 
of unfair criticism and neglect. At the State Convention of his party at 
Huntington, in 1888, he was a formidable candidate for the gubernatorial 
nomination. He held many appointments from the Governor upon State 
Boards and was elected to numerous county positions of trust. 

After severe mental afflictions, November 19, 1888, he passed into the 
Great Beyond. He was one of the most erudite lawyers the State of 
West Virginia has produced. 


Hon. William A. Quarrier 


Mr. Quarrier, son of Alexander W. Quarrier, who was for a generation, 
Clerk of the County Court, and Circuit Superior Court of Law and Chancery 
of Kanawha County. William A. was born in Charleston, Virginia, in 
1828, where he attended the schools of the town, ending with a full course 
at Mercer Academy, and finally completed his studies at the University of 
Virginia, where he graduated in the Law Department, and promptly 
entered upon an illustrious career as a member of the Kanawha Bar. He 
enlisted in the Confederate Army in 1861 and remained therein until the 
close of hostilities in 1865, when he returned to Charleston, and resumed the 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 27 


practice of law. He married Miss Cora Greenhow, by whom he had six 
children, one of whom — Russell G.—is now a prominent attorney of the 
Kanawha Bar. Mr. Quarrier never was a politician, but was twice sent to 
the West Virginia Legislature against his will. He was originally a Whig, 
but after the Civil War, he aligned himself with the Democratic Party. 
He loved his profession, and devoted his life to its study. 

Mr. Quarrier was one of the ablest lawyers of the West Virginia Bar. 
It has been said of him that he was the best lawyer in a bad ease that 
ever practiced at the Kanawha Bar, and his practice was large and im- 
portant, and he was almost invariably employed, on one side or the other, 
of practically every important case tried in the courts of Kanawha and 
adjoining counties. He was also a leader in the civic development of his 
section of the State. 

He was a member of the Episcopal Church, and was a leader therein. 
He was a tall and commanding man, and was courteous and urbane in all 
of his movements. He died September 10, 1888, and the entire community 
mourned his loss. 


Hon. Nathan Goff, LL.D. 


The subject of this sketch has had a distinguished and illustrious career. 
He was born in Harrison County, Virginia, February 9, 1842; was educated 
in the Clarksburg Northwestern Academy, Georgetown University, Wash- 
ington, D. C., and took the law course at the University of New York 
at the close of the Civil War. In the Spring of 1861, while a student at 
Georgetown University, young Goff was among the first to enlist as a 
volunteer in the service of the United States Government as a private 
soldier. Soon after, he was elected by the members of his company as a 
Lieutenant; was soon thereafter promoted to Captain, and finally was made 
a Major of his regiment. He participated in a number of severe battles, 
including Second Bull Run and Antietam. He was captured by the Con- 
federates at Moorefield, West Virginia, January 20, 1864, and was confined 
in Libby Prison for a number of months. At the close of the war he 
was given the brevet rank of brigadier general of volunteers for bravery 
and valor on the field of battle, although he was then only 23 years of age. 

His first political office was membership in the West Virginia Legislature 
from Harrison County in 1868; was appointed United States District 
Attorney for the State of West Virginia in 1869, which office he ably 
filled for thirteen years. He was Secretary of the Navy in President 
Harrison’s Cabinet from January 6, 1880, until the close of the adminis- 
tration, when he was reappointed United States Attorney for West Virginia. 
He was a member of Congress for three consecutive terms from 1883 to 
1889. In 1876 and 1888 he was the Republican candidate for Governor of 
the Commonwealth, but he was defeated in both campaigns. However, 
he was elected in 1888 on the face of the returns by a majority of 110 votes, 


28 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


but upon a recount by the Legislature his opponent was given the office. 
He was appointed a United States Circuit Judge by President Harrison in 
1890, and filled that office with great acceptability until 1913, when he 
was elected by the West Virginia Legislature a Senator in the Congress of 
the United States, which office he held for six years. 

In 1888 Georgetown University conferred upon him its highest honorary 
degree — Doctor of Laws. 

Senator Goff is married, has two sons, lives within gun-shot distance of 
where he was born in the City of Clarksburg, is a man of large means, 
and has always been an uncompromising Republican in polities. The State 
has never produced an abler or more popular man. 

His wife, who was Miss Laura Despard, died October 29, 1918. 


James McNeil Stephenson 


Mr. Stephenson, one of West Virginia’s most learned lawyers, late of the 
city of Parkersburg, was born November 4, 1796, in Greene County, Penn- 
sylvania. He received his education in the log school houses of the pioneer, 
which did not extend beyond the three R’s of that early period, and for 
which he had to labor, early and late. He possessed more than an average 
intellect and an innate ambition to make a record in life. He was large of 
stature, and was physically able to endure the severest of hardships, and 
possessed the industry and energy to read and carefully digest all of the 
books that he could buy or borrow. His reading and study increased his 
ambitions. Unsatisfied with existing conditions, and thirsting for a higher 
grade of knowledge, he decided to become a lawyer. Whilst learning the 
trade of a tanner, all of his spare time was devoted to a careful study of 
legal text books. Many times he was found currying leather with his text 
books open before him. By these means, and the unsparing use of the 
““ tallow dip,’’ he became qualified for, and was admitted to the Bar, and 
commenced practicing law at Wheeling, Virginia, but shortly thereafter 
he located at Miadlebourne, the county seat of Tyler County. Here he 
practiced his profession for several years, and by close attention to his 
law office, and by judicious investments in real estate, he prospered beyond 
many of the favored of fortune. Looking for a wider field of labor he moved 
to Parkersburg, Wood County, and opened a more pretentious law office, 
and largely increased his business as an attorney. 

When thirty-three years of age he married Miss Agnes M. Boreman, a 
member of a noted family of Wood County. They reared a family of six 
children, three boys and three girls. He was very fond of his family, and 
his home-life was beautiful and exemplary. When the Civil War broke out 
in 1861 he stcod strenuously by the Union, notwithstanding the fact that 
ke had a son in the Confederate Army. He was a slave-holder, or rather 
his slaves owned him. He bought a number, but never sold one. Notwith- 
standing the fact he never went to college, he was in many ways a learned 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 29 
ee ee eee 
man. As a lawyer, perhaps, he had no superior in West Virginia. He was 
remarkably successful in handling his cases. He accumulated a large estate, 
mainly by his efforts at the Bar. He was noted for his unswerving honesty 
and integrity. He was learned in all the branches of the law, but specialized 
in land laws and suits in ejectment. 

He was a whig in politics, but was never a politician, nor an office-seeker. 
He represented Tyler County three terms in the Legislature of Virginia in 
1838, 739 and ’40. Subsequently he represented Wood County, a number of 
terms in the State Legislature. He was also a man of large public spirit. To 
his exertions more than to any other man or men, the construction of the 
railroad from Grafton to Parkersburg is due. He also organized two banks, 
and was also a leader in a number of other public improvements. He was 
foremost in his day, in every movement that was for the betterment of the 
community in which he lived and adorned. 

He died April 12, 1877, and carried to his grave the respect of all the 
people with whom he associated in life. He was a benevolent man, giving 
much money for the good of mankind. He was a devout Christian. His 
death was universally mourned by the citizens of Parkersburg. 


Hon. Andrew Edmiston, LL.B. 


Mr. Edmiston. son of Judge Mathew Edmiston, is a native of Weston, 
Lewis County, Virginia, where he was born in September, 1849. He had 
three brothers, all of whom were successful physicians, and three sisters, 
all of whom remained citizens of Lewis County. The subject of this sketch 
received his primary education in the Weston schools. Later he was a 
student at Marietta (Ohio) College in 1867 and ’68; he was one year at the 
University of Virginia, and took the law course at Washington and Lee 
University at Lexington, Virginia, graduating with the degree of Bachelor 
of Laws in the class of 1872; he returned to Weston and was admitted to 
the Lewis County Bar in the summer of that year, and has since been 
admitted as a practitioner in all the courts of West Virginia, both State 
and Federal, his office, all the while, being at Weston, although his practice 
extended into the surrounding counties, and became large and profitable. 
He possessed a thorough knowledge of the law, and became a noted attorney 
in the central portion of the State. He is energetic, studious and fearless, 
and has been unusually successful in the trial of important causes. He 
maintains a high rank as an advocate, a gift possessed, in a high degree, 
by his distinguished father. His clientele has always been large and 
profitable, notwithstanding the fact, that for several years past, he has been 
trying to restrict his clientage, rather than increase it. He is a man of 
upright character, and has always been trustworthy in every respect. 

He was born a Democrat and has never wavered in his allegiance to 
that faith; still, he cannot be classed, in any respect, as an office-seeker 
or a politician, per se. Nevertheless, he was, for many years, active in 


30 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


politics, simply to see his party succeed. He was elected a member of the 
West Virginia Legislature in 1881, and served ably for two years; he was 
again elected to the same honorable position in 1894. He was elected 
Prosecuting Attorney of Lewis County in 1872, and rendered such efficient 
service in enforcing the law, that he was re-elected in 1876, serving eight 
years in that office. He was nominated by the Democrats as their candidate 
for Cireuit Judge in 1904, and although not elected, he ran ahead of his 
ticket in the counties composing the circuit, nearly 1,800 votes. President 
Roosevelt carried the two counties by nearly 2,700 of a majority, while 
Mr. Edmiston lost them by less than 900 votes. Mr. Roosevelt carried 
Lewis (Mr. Edmiston’s native county) by 525 majority, while Mr. Edmiston 
carried it the same day by 327 of a majority. This shows his standing and 
popularity at home, the best of all places to test one’s real merits and 
standing. 

Mr. Edmiston has never married, and is a member of the Protestant 
Episcopal Church, and the order of Knights of Pythias. He was Chairman 
of the Democratic State Executive Committee for four years, and was a 
Delegate to the Democratic National Convention, in 1912, which nominated 
Woodrow Wilson for President of the United States. 


Judge Daniel Polsley 


Daniel Polsley, Congressman, Judge, Lieutenant-Governor, was born at 
Palatine, Marion County, Virginia, November 3, 1803. His father was of 
German descent, and his mother a sister of the grandfather of Judge 
Alpheus F. Haymond, formerly a Judge of the Supreme Court of West 
Virginia. His early education was obtained while assisting in clearing and 
improving the farm. He studied law, and attended the lectures of Judge 
Tucker, in Winchester, Virginia. After his father’s death, he removed to 
Wellsburg, in Brooke County, and soon gained an enviable reputation at 
the Bar. In 1827, he wedded Eliza V. Brown, niece of the celebrated Philip 
Doddridge, and granddaughter of Captain Oliver Brown, an officer in the 
Revolutionary War. In connection with his profession, in 1833, he edited 
and published the ‘‘ Western Transcript,’’? a Whig paper. This he continued 
until 1845, when he retired from law practice, sold out his printing office, 
and moved to a 1,200-acre farm on the Ohio river, opposite Racine, Ohio, 
engaging in agriculture, as more congenial to his unpretentious nature. In 
the turbulent days of 1861, he was not allowed to longer remain in quiet 
life, and was elected a member from Mason County of the Wheeling Con- 
vention to Restore the State Government. Upon its restoration, he was 
made Lieutenant-Governor. In 1862, he was chosen Judge of the Seventh 
Circuit of Virginia, and over the same counties in West Virginia afterwards, 
ably presiding until 1866, when he was elected to the Fortieth Congress 
from the Third District. At the end of his term, he located at Point 
Pleasant, where he died October 14, 1877. Unostentatious, yet able, honest, 
and active, he was a force in the early days of our Statehood. 


HON. ANDREW EDMISTON 


32 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Hon. Allen Taylor Caperton 


Among the distinguished lawyers and statesmen of southeastern West 
Virginia, we find the name of the subject of this sketch. He was born 
near Union, Monroe County, Virginia, November 21, 1810, and died at the 
National Capital, July 26, 1876, at the beginning of a promising term as a 
Senator in the American Congress. His paternal ancestors were English, 
and his maternal were Scotch. He was educated at the Huntsville, Alabama 
Academy, the Lewisburg, Virginia, Academy; graduated A.B. from Yale 
University in 1832; spent a short time at the Virginia University at Char- 
lottsville; and graduated in law from Judge Briscoe G. Baldwin’s Law 
School at Staunton, Virginia. Immediately thereafter he was licensed 
to practice as a member of the Monroe County Bar, and was not long in 
becoming its acknowledged leader. He was a superior publie speaker, and 
early established himself as one of the foremost trial lawyers in Virginia. 

He was elected as a Whig from Monroe County in April, 1841, a 
Delegate to the General Assembly of Virginia. In 1844 he was elected a 
State Senator from the district in which Monroe County was a part, and 
served ably for the term of four years. He was a member of the Con- 
stitutional Convention of Virginia, 1850, and was a member of the 
Committee to adjust the question of the White and Mixed basis of Taxa- 
tion between the eastern and western counties of the State, then a 
subject of bitter contention. Because of his ability as a stump speaker 
he was twice a Whig Elector on the Presidential ticket. In 1859—’61 he was 
again a leading member of the General Assembly of Virginia. While 
thus serving, he was chosen a delegate to the Richmond Convention, which 
passed the Ordinance of Secession. In 1862 he was elected by the Legis- 
lature a United States Senator of the Confederate Congress, to fill the 
vacancy occasioned by the death of the Honorable William Ballard Preston, 
in which position he served until the close of the war between the States 
in 1865. He then returned to his home, and resumed the practice of the 
law, which very soon grew to large proportions. He inherited his father’s 
popularity, as well as his estate; and in 1875, the Legislature of the new 
State of West Virginia elected him to a seat in the Senate of the United 
States. From this, his last earthly duty, after serving less than a year, 
he was suddenly called to the realms where Christian faith ends in fruition. 
Gentle in manner, honored by those who knew him well, and admired by 
a large circle of friends, he will long be remembered as one of the old 
school, lawyer gentlemen of his native State. 

In the 22d year of his life he was united in marriage with Miss Harriet 
Echols, a lady of refinement and culture, with residence at the homestead in 
Union, the county seat of Monroe County, who survived him for a number 
of years. He became a Democrat at the close of the rebellion. 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 33 


Hon. John Bassel 


Mr. Bassel, who, in life, was one of the most eminent lawyers that the 
Virginias have produced, was born, reared and died in the County of 
Harrison, born June 9, 1840, and died in the City of Clarksburg, December 
28, 1914. He was educated at Moore’s Academy at Morgantown, Virginia, 
where he spent two years; later he entered Washington and Jefferson 
College, Washington, Pennsylvania, from which he graduated with honor; 
read law in the office of the late John J. Davis for one year; later he was 
a student in law in the Cincinnati College of Law, from which he graduated 
and was admitted to practice in the Courts of Harrison County, January 8, 
1864. He was noted for his diligence, mental acuteness, and power of 
analysis; hence it was not long until he received recognition as an attorney, 
and his success was, therefore, early assured. He ranked among the able 
lawyers of his day, always conducting his cases with admirable effective- 
ness and superior judgment. He had a comprehensive and accurate knowl- 
edge of the law, and never failed to exalt his profession in which it was 
his ambition to excel, and lamented the tendency, in later years, to lower 
its ideals. He never failed to keep in mind the advice of Lord Coke, that, 
“« He that knoweth not the reason of the law, knoweth not the law.’’ At 
the trial of causes he was alert, adroit and untiring. In the argument of 
eases he reasoned well and convincingly. He was a dangerous opponent in 
debate, but was never spectacular nor offensive. He possessed a remarkably 
retentive memory and could cite cases with marvelous precision. He was 
always a student, and remembered what he read, and his mind was accord- 
ingly stored and enriched not only by a knowledge of the law itself, but by 
the history of events culled from the classics and from profane and sacred 
writers as well, which he often used with telling effect in his arguments 
before courts and juries. 

Mr. Bassel was twice married, first to Miss Martha Lewis, by whom 
he had six children, and second to Miss Mary Bean, who survived him and 
is still a resident of Clarksburg. She is a woman of marked ability, and 
was a valuable assistant to her husband in aiding him in the management 
of his large volume of business which was a burden to him in his declining 
years. 

Mr. Bassel was a Democrat, but devoted very little time and thought 
to politics. The first and only office, to which he was ever elected by the 
people, was a member of the State Convention that prepared the Con- 
stitution of the State in 1872, under which we are still living. In that 
body of distinguished men, he took high rank, because of his thorough 
knowledge of the law. 

He was for many years counsel for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad 
Company, and gave to its affairs the most careful and assiduous attention. 

He was a member of the Presbyterian Church, was domestic in his tastes 
and habits, enjoyed associations with his friends, and in his intercourse 


2. 


34 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


with members of the Bar, he was ever courteous, kind and considerate. 
He was president of the State Bar Association in 1901, and was a faithful 
attendant upon its annual meetings. The association was in session at 
Parkersburg the day of his demise, and twenty of its members, as a mark of 
respect, were appointed to attend his funeral. 


Judge Samuel Woods, A.M., LL.D. 


Hon. Samuel Woods, deceased, a former judge of the Supreme Court of 
West Virginia, was born in East Canada, September 19, 1822. When he 
was but a boy, his father moved to Meadville, Pennsylvania, where he 
learned the plasterer’s trade. He, however, in the meantime became a 
student at Allegheny College, and by energy and perseverance, working at 
his trade during the summer seasons, and attending college the remainder of 
the years, when twenty years of age, he completed the required classical 
course, and received the diploma of Bachelor of Arts. He studied law with 
Fox Alden, an able attorney of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and in the mean- 
time he was one of the teachers in the well-known academy at Morgantown, 
Virginia. After his admission to the Bar, he located at Philippi, Barbour 
County, Virginia, where he spent the remainder of his life, having attained 
the standing of one of the greatest lawyers of the State. 

Judge Woods was large in brain and stature. He was a little more than 
six feet tall, weighed over two hundred pounds, was round-faced and hand- 
some, and was commanding in appearance. He was as well rounded morally 
as physically. He possessed strong religious convictions, and his personal 
character was as spotless as a maiden’s, and as unsullied as a ray of light. 
At every period in his long and useful career, he was always found on 
the moral side of every question that came before him. He never apologized 
for his faith, but always showed his faith by his works. By his superior 
mental training, fidelity to his clients, and his highly honorable methods, he 
achieved success in the practice of his profession. Being a natural orator, 
he was almost irresistible as an advocate in a court trial. He made the 
most careful preparation of his cases, and was so well grounded in the law 
and so eloquent and convincing as a speaker that he seldom, if ever, lost a 
deserving case. He was free from the use of spirits and narcoties that often 
dwarf the body, deaden the intellect and poison the soul of brilliant men. 
He was also a man of fine literary tastes and habits, and was devoted to 
his family and to his home. In 1844 he married at Meadville, Pennsylvania, 
Miss Isabelle Neeson, and has reared an interesting family, three sons 
being successful lawyers, two of whom reside in Philippi, Barbour County, 
the place of their birth, the elder of the three being deceased. 

He was a member of the Virginia Convention that passed the Ordinance 
of Secession, and when the Civil War came on he went with the South, 
was a member of the celebrated ‘‘ Stonewall Brigade,’’ and there remained 


JUDGE SAMUEL WOODS 


36 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


until the close of hostilities, when he returned to his Philippi home and 
resumed his law practice. He was a Democrat in his political convictions, 
and in 1871 he was elected a member of the State Convention that produced 
the State Constitution of 1872, which is still the organic law of West 
Virginia. In 1883 he was appointed a member of the Supreme Court of 
Appeals of the State to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of 
the late Judge A. F. Haymond, and in 1884 he was elected by the people 
to that important position. At the expiration of his term of service in 
1888 he retired from public life to manage his large private interests. In 
that year Allegheny College conferred upon him its highest honorary 
degree, that of Doctor of Laws, an honor most worthily bestowed. 

Judge Woods was an ardent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
and was a leader in its councils. He was one of the founders of West 
Virginia Weslyan College at Buckhannon, and was president of its Board 
of Trustees from the origin of the same until the time of his death. He 
was also a prominent member of the Masonic Fraternity. He died suddenly 
at his Philippi home February 17, 1897. Thus passed from the throng of 
the living one of our States ablest lawyers, a learned and conscientious 
jurist, an honest, upright citizen, and above all a faithful Christian 
gentleman. 


Judge Daniel B. Lucas, LL.D. 


Judge Lucas was one of the most distinguished lawyers, jurists and 
literateures that this State has produced. He was born in Charlestown, 
Jefferson County, Virginia, March 16, 1836, and was known as ‘‘ the poet 
of the Shenandoah Valley.’’ He came of distinguished ancestry, who for 
generations have been prominent in the wars and the public affairs of 
Virginia, even prior to the Revolution. He possessed a poetic tempera- 
ment, and, was an orator of power and force. He was a graduate of the 
University of Virginia, and was the valedictorian of his class. After his 
graduation he entered the law school of Judge Brockenbrough at Lexing- 
ton, Virginia, and graduated therefrom in the class of 1859. Harly in 
1860 he removed to Richmond, and at the opening of the Civil War cast 
his fortunes with the South, and became a member of the staff of General 
Henry A. Wise. He had many experiences and narrow escapes, but emerged 
from the conflict unscathed and unharmed. During that period he wrote 
several poems that rendered him famous, one of which was ‘‘ The land 
where we were Dreaming,’’ also ‘‘ The Wealth of Eglantine,’’ ‘‘ The Maid 
of Northumberland.’’ A volume of poems, ‘‘ Ballads and Madrigals,’’ ete. 

He returned to his home in Charlestown, and in 1870 formed a partner- 
ship with Thomas C. Green, who subsequently became one of the ablest 
lawyers and most distinguished jurists of the Commonwealth, and by his 
ability, training and skill young Lucas took high rank in the profession. 
He had a large practice in the State and Federal Courts, and especially 


JUDGE DANIEL B. LUCAS 


38 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 

in the Supreme Court of the State, many of his cases being of great 
importance, which he managed with signal success. While devoting him- 
self assiduously to his profession and many spare hours to poetic compo- 
sitions, he yet found time to deliver numerous platform lectures on literary 
subjects. Among his most notable lectures were those on Daniel O’Connel, 
John Brown, John Randolph and Henry Clay. 

He always took a high position on, and maintained a strong adherence 
to, the Democracy of the fathers of that party, against the alleged departure 
from the faith and doctrines of Jefferson, Madison and Monroe, and was 
instrumental in the defeat of the Hon. Johnson N. Camden, the Democratic 
nominee, for a seat in the United States Senate in 1887, because of that 
alleged departure. The Legislature failed to elect a Senator, and after its 
adjournment Governor Wilson appointed Mr. Lucas to that position during 
the interim. But a special session of the Legislature was held the following 
April and Judge C. J. Faulkner was elected to the existing vacancy, and 
thus that controversy was ended. 

Mr. Lucas was a Regent of the West Virginia University for eight years 
and showed an active interest in the educational affairs of the State; and 
in July, 1876, he was tendered the Deanship of its Law Department, an honor 
which his large law practice compelled him to decline. For the same reason 
he declined to accept the position of a Cireuit Court Judge which was 
tendered to him to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Judge 
John Blair Hoge. He was elected a member of the West Virginia Legis- 
lature in 1884, and was re-elected in 1886. His opposition to sumptuary 
laws and the coeducation of the sexes in the State University were very 
marked. He also vigorously favored a system of high license and equaliza- 
tion of taxation of all property, whether real or personal, corporate or 
individual, maintaining that inequality of taxation had been the bane of 
all Republics. Taking him all in all he proved to be a legislator of great 
influence and ability. 

On the death of Judge Thomas C. Green, a member of the Supreme Court 
of Appeals of the State, his former law partner, Mr. Lucas was, in 1889, 
appointed to fill that vacancy, and in 1890 he was elected to fill Judge 
Green’s unexpired term, which he ably did until January 1, 1893. His 
opinions are marked by careful thought and a full knowledge of the law, 
and are expressed in correct language and with the grace that bears the 
touch and taste of an accomplished scholar. Rarely is there found in the 
ranks of men one so symmetrical in mind and character, one so sound in 
judgment, so unering in moral perception, and so faithful to duty as the 
subject of this brief memoir. He was by no means a robust man, and yet 
he was capable of almost unlimited labor and application. He was married 
in 1869 to Miss Lena Brooks, of Richmond, Virginia. They had an only. 
child— a daughter. He departed this life aged above three score and ten. 

In 1844 the West Virginia University conferred upon Judge Lucas the 
honorary degree of Doctor of Laws, which was, in every respect, a well 
merited compliment and fully deserved. 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 39 


Judge John W. English, B.A. 


The Hon. John Warth English, the subject of this brief memoir, was 
the son of Job English, one of the early salt manufacturers of the Great 
Kanawha Valley, was born in Jackson County, Virginia, January 31, 1831. 
When he was four years of age his father moved to Malden, Kanawha 
County, where the son attended the common and select schools of that 
locality until he was sixteen years of age, when he was sent to Illinois 
College at Jacksonville, Illinois, where he took the complete academic 
course, graduating with honors when he was twenty years of age with the 
degree of Bachelor of Arts. When he returned home he assisted his father 
in his store at the salt furnace for two or three years, while he was reading 
law under the tutelage of his uncle, John A. Warth, and Judge George W. 
Summers, of Charleston. After becoming qualified he passed the required 
examination, and in 1855 he was admitted to the Kanawha County Bar. 
A short time thereafter he located at Point Pleasant in Mason County, 
formed a partnership with Henry J. Fisher, the leading lawyer of that 
locality, and one of the best known attorneys in that section of the State. 
The firm of Fisher and English carried on a very large legal business not 
only in Mason County, but in all of the surrounding counties, until the 
beginning of the Civil War, when Mr. Fisher went South and remained 
until the close of hostilities. Mr. English, however, remained at home and 
earried on an extensive practice in Mason and the adjoining counties, in 
which he established a reputation as one of the leading lawyers of Western 
Virginia. In his practice he was honest in his convictions, honest with the 
courts before whom he appeared, and honest with his adversaries. JIle was 
an upright man and was four-square in all of his acts and purposes. Such 
men are always successful in their undertakings. Such was his character 
and reputation during the many years he was engaged in active practice. 

In 1888 he was nominated by the Democratie party for a seat on the 
Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, and was elected by a large 
majority over the opposing candidate, and served twelve years with great 
acceptability to both suitors and attorneys. He was a man of quiet and 
retiring disposition and was exceedingly modest in his demeanor. He 
engaged but little in the political controversies of the State, preferring to 
devote his time and energies to the practice of his profession. His literary 
education and studious habits fitted him especially for the position of a 
judge. He was honest, industrious and painstaking in all the cases that 
came before him during the twelve years he served on the Appellate Court. 
Through his entire life his reputation for integrity was never questioned. 

Judge English was a man of marked personal appearance. He was six 
feet tall, wore long whiskers, had strong features, a kindly disposition, 
and would command attention in any audience. His career as a lawyer 
and judge was a record of manliness, complete in every detail. 


40 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


May 6, 1862, he was united in marriage with Miss Fannie Lewis, a 
descendant of General Andrew and Colonel Charles C. Lewis of the Con- 
tinental Army, who commanded the American troops in the historie battle 
of Point Pleasant against the Indians in 1774. At this now prosperous 
town, at the confluence of the Great Kanawha with the Ohio River, Judge 
English spent the greater portion of his honorable and distinguished career, 
and where on the 18th of July, 1916, in the quietude of a delightful home, 
respected by all the people, he disappeared into the ‘‘ Great Beyond.’’ 
No cleaner and purer man ever donned the judicial ermine in this or any 
other State. He was a faithful member of the Protestant Episcopal Church. 


Wesley Mollohan 


One of the most illustrious legal products of West Virginia was the 
subject of this sketch. He was a man of simple habits; was courteous and 
dignified in his general deportment; attended to his duties promptly and 
faithfully; was more inclined to listen than to speak; was kind hearted, 
frank, straight forward, and independent; was conscientious and upright, 
and was a philosopher and a thinker. Im fact he knew something of most 
everything; could reason from cause to effect on most every branch of 
human knowledge, and could give a logical reason for every principle he 
chose to present. He was apparently always thinking about something 
worth while wherever and whenever one might chance to meet him. He 
had pronounced convictions practically on everything beneath the sun, 
except politics. Whilst he always claimed to be a Democrat, yet on election 
day he generally split his ticket. He was eccentric. That much cannot be 
denied. He was peculiar. He at times was abstracted. Like Cassius, ‘‘ he 
thought too much.’’ But no one can say that he did not always stand 
“* four square ’’ every day in the week and every week in the year. 

Mr. Mollohan was the son of the Reverend Charles Mollohan, and was 
born in Braxton County, Virginia, January 31, 1841, and died while visiting 
in Kansas, September 25, 1911. His early education was obtained from the 
public schools of Gallia County, Ohio, and later at Gallipolis, Ohio, Academy. 
He possessed an aspiration for knowledge which no circumstances of his 
youth could suppress, and an ambition to achieve a name and place among 
men undaunted by any prospect which the future could present to his view. 
When he quit the Academy he read law under the direction of the late 
Judge Simeon Nash at Gallipolis, one of the eminent lawyers and text 
writers of Southern Ohio. In less than two years he was thoroughly pre- 
pared for examination. He was critically examined, passed with a high 
grade, received his license and was admitted to the Gallipolis Bar. He, 
along with James Henry Nash (son of Judge Nash), a brilliant, brainy 
young attorney, came to Charleston, West Virginia, in 1865, opened a law 
office and began a business which was lucrative from the day they hung 


ENGLISH 


JUDGE JOHN W. 


42 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


out their ‘‘ shingle.’? Mr. Nash died in about ten years after his arrival 
and location at Charleston. Later George W. MecClintie and William 
Gordon Mathews became partners with Mr. Mollohan and were members 
of the firm at the time of his demise. 

Mr. Mollohan’s practice embraced a period of nearly a half century and 
extended through the State and Federal Courts to the Supreme Court of 
the United States, and he appeared in many important cases involving a 
large number of land titles, tax sales, forfeitures and kindred subjects in 
many of the different counties of the entire State, he being recognized as 
one of the foremost, if not the best equipped and strongest land lawyer 
West Virginia has thus far presented to the profession. He was also a 
specialist upon all matters involving the construction of all constitutional 
questions. Indeed he seemed ready and at ease in the discussion of all cases, 
and especialy appeals to the higher courts, involving intricate questions of 
law. In all cases where he appeared he rarely failed to show that he was 
generally well fortified behind impregnable breastworks. His successes 
were the fruits of his unceasing efforts, of vigorous, systematic application, 
a rectitude of purpose and a determination which nothing short of the 
achievement of the highest and noblest ends could satisfy. He commanded 
success and he deserved it. 

He was a marked man in another respect. He never was a candidate 
for an office, never held an office, and never wanted one. He was dis- 
tinetively a lawyer, and allowed nothing outside of his profession to draw 
his attention from it. 

He married Miss Mary E. Donnally of Warren, Ohio, in 1872, who passed 
away in the early part of January, 1918. They left five daughters sur- 
viving them. Mr. Mollohan never connected himself with any religious 
organization, nor any secret society. He was an active member of the 
State Bar Association, and was president of the Association in 1902. He 
was a marked man, and must be classed among the great lawyers of his 
generation. 


Judge Charles Page Thomas Moore, M.A. 


The Supreme Court Bench has had upon it few, if any, more gifted and 
popular wearers of the judicial ermine than the one whose kindly eyes 
face this brief biographical sketch. Since the early days of the State’s 
existence, when party lines were sponged out by the overshadowing issue 
of National preservation, has any party candidate been more generally 
indorsed by the people than Judge Moore. 

He was the youngest of three children from the marriage of Thomas 
Moore and Augusta Delphia Page, both of Shenandoah Valley, Virginia. 
His parents died when he was young. He was born February 8, 1831, and 
was adopted by his uncle, George Moore, and was taken to Mason County, 
on the Ohio River, who gave him a broad and liberal education. He first 


JUDGE C. P. T. MOORE 


44 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


attended Marshall College, Cabell County, Virginia; then at Jefferson 
College, Pennsylvania, and at Union College, New York, graduating from 
the latter in July, 1853, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He after- 
wards took the prescribed law course at the University of Virginia, and 
in 1856 he was admitted to the Bar of Mason County Cireuit Court. In 
1858 he was elected Prosecuting Attorney of that county, serving in that 
capacity until the beginning of the Civil War. He vigorously opposed 
secession, although he was a Democrat in his political affiliations. In 1868 
he was a candidate for Congress, but failed of election. 

In 1870 he was elected on the Democratic ticket as one of the judges 
of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia for the term of twelve 
years, but by the adoption of the State Constitution of 1872 his term was 
made to expire December 31, 1872. He was nominated for the same office 
at the following general election, and was overwhelmingly re-elected by 
the people. In the allotment provided by the Constitution of 1872, he drew 
the full term of twelve years. In 1881, owing to failing health, and after 
having rendered most faithful and efficient service for about ten years, he 
resigned from that high position, and thereafter adopted the more quiet 
and congenial life of the farm left to him by his uncle near Elwell, Mason 
County, in the splendid Ohio Valley, where he remained until his death. 

Judge Moore wedded Miss Urilla K., daughter of Jacob A. Kline of 
Mason County, by whom he had four daughters. He loved the people and 
they revere his memory. No taint ever rested upon his private or public 
life. He was one of the most genial and generous of men, and was a man 
of marked personal appearance. 


Judge Alpheus F. Haymond 


Judge Haymond, son of Col. Thomas S. and Harriet A. Haymond, was 
born on a farm near Fairmont, Marion County, Virginia, December 15, 
1823. His early life was uneventful, but even in his youth he showed the 
vigor of thought and bold independence characteristic of subsequent years. 
Until the age of thirteen he attended school near his home, then went to 
Morgantown, Monongalia County Academy, where he remained two years, 
then to William and Mary College, Williamstown, Virginia, where he 
remained for a few terms. He read law with Edgar E. Wilson, of Morgan- 
town, and was admitted to the Bar in 1842 when only nineteen years of age. 
He soon became recognized as an able lawyer, and had secured a paying 
practice before the Civil War. In early life he revealed a liking for polities. 
In 1853, and again in 1857, he was elected a member of the Legislature of 
Virginia from Marion County, and in 1861 he was a member of the Virginia 
Convention, and opposed Secession; but after the State seceded he entered 
the Confederate Army and remained therein until after the surrender of 
General Lee at Appomattox, when he returned to his home at Fairmont 
and resumed his law practice, which rapidly grew to large proportions. 


JUDGE ALPHEUS F. HAYMOND 


46 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Being a strong lawyer he was appropriately chosen a member of the 
Constitutional Convention of 1872 to frame a new Constitution for the 
State of West Virginia, in which he figured conspicuously and ably. At 
the first election under that revised Constitution he was elected a member 
of the Supreme Court of Appeals of the State; served ably thereon until 
1876, when he was re-elected to the same position for the full term of 
twelve years. He was a just and able judge. He wrote many opinions, 
all of which reveal honesty of purpose and determination to deal out 
justice without fear or favor. He was most careful inthe preparation of his 
opinions, because he knew that hasty, ill-considered decisions by Appellate 
Courts are unprofitable to the public, unreliable as precedents and authority 
for the legal profession or the citizen, and discreditable to the court that 
makes them. Consequently he labored zealously to get at the facts, merits 
and law of every case he passed upon, or was decided by any of his asso- 
ciates on the Appellate Bench during his membership of the Court. He 
was necessarily an untiring worker, so much so that he found his health 
giving way under the necessary strain of the daily grind, and he decided 
to abandon his work upon the bench; consequently he resigned the position 
January 1, 1883, which he had so ably filled for ten years, and retired to 
private life. 

Judge Haymond was a Democrat, a man of medium height, heavy build, 
face of a round contour, of agreeable and graceful manners, and of even 
temper. In his later years his practice was confined exclusively to the 
Supreme Court. He departed this life December 15, 1893, thus ending a 
distinguished and useful career. 

He was a married man and had an interesting family. One of his sons 
is now judge of the Circuit Court of Marion County, and is a lawyer of 
acknowledged ability, and a safe and reliable jurist. 


Hon. Sherrard Clemens 


Mr. Clemens was the son of Dr. James W. Clemens, and was born in 
Wheeling, Virginia, April 28, 1826. He received a thorough home training 
in the rudimentary principles of an English education, and was sent to 
Washington College, Pennsylvania, from which he graduated A.B. in the 
class of 1840. He studied law in Wheeling and was admitted to the bar in 
1843. He became eminent as an advocate and was a successful prac— 
titioner. He entered politics and was elected to the Congress of the United 
States as a Democrat in 1852, and was re-elected in 1857. He was a man 
of brilliant parts; was a great debater, and was one of the most attractive 
and entertaining public speakers of his time. He was seriously wounded 
in a duel with O. Jennings Wise, the eldest son of Governor Henry A. Wise, 
of Virginia. He moved to Missouri and died at St. Louis in 1874. He was 
segarded as an eminent lawyer while he resided in Virginia. 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 47 


Major Isaac Noyes Smith 


Major Smith, son of Col. Benjamin H. and Roxalana Noyes Smith, was 
born in Charleston, Kanawha county, Virginia, in April, 1832. He was 
educated at Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia, from 
which he graduated with high honors in both the academic and law depart- 
ments. After completing his college studies, he returned to his home at 
Charleston, entered the law office of his father, and very soon became 
an active member of the Kanawha County Bar. 

In 1860 he was elected a delegate from his native county to the Virginia 
Legislature at Richmond, but when the Civil War broke out in 1861, he 
volunteered in the Confederate Army as a private soldier, and was shortly 
thereafter promoted to Major of his regiment. When the war was ended, 
he was honorably discharged, returned to Charleston, and vigorously 
resumed the practice of the law in which he was remarkably successful. 
When his father, who was eminent in the profession, retired from active 
practice, Major Smith took his place as the senior member of the law firm 
of Smith & Knight, in which he continued as an active member until his 
untimely death, which occurred at his residence in Charleston, October 
6, 1883. He came of an ancestry marked by strong, able and brave men, 
and his distinction at the Bar was only less than that of his illustrious 
father, who survived him. 

Major Smith was united in marriage with Miss Caroline 8S. Quarrier 
in November, 1860, daughter of Hon. Alexander W. Quarrier, a prominent 
citizen for many years of Charleston. Major Smith was an official 
member of the Presbyterian Church, and was noted for uprightness, 
integrity and honor, as well as a successful lawyer. Several members of 
his tamily are still living in the city of Charleston. One of his. sons — 
Harrison Brooks Smith—is a member of the long and well-established 
law firm of Price, Smith, Spilman & Clay of Charleston, that maintain a 
state-wide reputation as attorneys and counselors. 


Hon. Edward Boardman Knight, M.A. 


Edward B. Knight, one of the really eminent lawyers of West Virginia, 
prior to the days of modern-help text books and encyclopedia compilations 
for quick reference, when lawyers had to carry the law in their heads and 
not merely in their libraries, where they could turn to a cyclopedia and 
find what they wanted in a few minutes, in order to succeed in their prac- 
tice and become eminent as barristers. Mr. Knight was of the kind who 
was erudite and learned in every branch of the profession, and was 
unusually apt in knowing how to apply his vast learing in an emergency, 
so as to prove most effective in a court trial. The writer has heard him 
in the trial of a considerable number of important causes in our high 


48 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


courts, and without disparaging other distinguished members of the Bar, 
he is clearly of the opinion that Mr. Knight had but few equals as a trial 
lawyer in this or any other State. He was self-poised, of free and forceful 
speech, incisive in delivery, and rarely failed to impress a court and jury 
of the justness of his contentions. He possessed a large fund of knowledge 
outside of his profession, which he often used with telling force in his 
court trials. He carried a serious bearing, and yet he had a remarkable 
vein of wit and humor when occasion called for an expression of this 
natural feature of his make up. He seemed to possess on all oceasions all 
of the elements of an all round able and successful lawyer, who possessed 
the confidence of his brothers of the profession and the respect of all the 
people who knew him personally. 

Mr. Knight was a native of New Hampshire; was born August 22, 1834; 
graduated from Dartmouth College in the class of 1861; was admitted to the 
bar in 1863 and practiced for a short time in his native town of New 
London, and also in Dover, N. H. In the spring of 1863 he located per- 
manently in Charleston, West Virginia, and became a partner of the late 
Colonel Benjamin H. Smith, who was known all over the State as one of its 
greatest lawyers, who was a specialist in land titles and land litigations 
generally. A short time after Mr. Knight became a member of the firm 
of Smith and Knight, Colonel Smith, who was advanced in years, retired 
and his place was taken by his son, Major Isaac N. Smith, who was also a 
lawyer of erudition, the firm name remaining as before. Major Smith 
died in 1883, when Mr. Knight and Mr. George S. Couch entered into part- 
nership under the firm name of Knight and Couch, which continued until 
Mr. Knight retired from practice January 1, 1892. 

Mr. Knight was a man of large stature, of even temper and kindly dis- 
position. He had a host of friends, and lived a c'ean, moral and upright 
life. He was fond of out-door living, and usually spent his summer vaca- 
tions in the beautiful hill country around Sunipee Lake, New Hampshire, 
in fishing and other out-door sports, among his relatives and friends of 
early life. He was twice married. By his first wife he had two sons and 
one daughter. One of the sons is a noted lawyer of Charleston,’ who is 
mentioned in another place in this volume, the other son, Harold Warren 
Knight, a successful business man of Charleston, now deceased, and the 
daughter, Mary Ethel, who is the wife of Hon. George W. McClintic, 
another prominent lawyer of Charleston, who is also mentioned in this 
volume. 

Mr. Knight was a Democrat in politics, but was in no sense a politician, 
never having sought an office of any kind. He, however, was Solicitor of 
the City of Charleston for a number of years, and was a member of the State 
Constitutional Convention of 1872. In both of these positions he rendered 
able and efficient service. 

After spending a long, useful and successful life, he quietly passed into 
the unseen, December 16, 1897, sadly mourned by a host of admiring friends, 
leaving a record of a private and professional life equaled by few and 
difficult to surpass. 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 49 


Hon. Daniel Peck 


Mr. Peck was born in Woodstock, Vermont, in 1798, and starting at the 
bottom reached the top, through trials and tribulations, which at times 
seemed insurmountable, but being endowed by nature with a remarkable 
intellect and an uncommon amount of pluck, he came out a conqueror, 
leaving his impress indelibly upon the times in which he lived. We put it 
mildly when we state that he was one of the greatest natural lawyers who 
ever adorned the State. His father died when Daniel was a mere lad, 
leaving a wife and six small children, Daniel being the eldest, and leaving 
no means for their support; consequently it was left for the subject of this 
sketch to earn a livelihood for all of them. He was fifteen before he 
started to school, and had to walk a distance of four and a half miles. 
Before his death his father moved his family to Eastern Ohio in a road 
wagon, stopping for a time at Washington, Pennsylvania, and Wheeling, 
West Virginia, the father being stricken with paralysis the entire support 
of the family depended upon Daniel, which he did bravely by working at 
anything he could get to do. Being a natural musician, he learned that 
art through a shoemaker at Wheeling, and in a short time became a teacher 
himself. He was stricken with smallpox which so disfigured his face that 
he was tabooed by sceiety wherever he went; but he was not daunted. 
He kept on, though at times he was sad at heart. The family remained in 
Wheeling for a year or two on their way to Ohio, our subject working at 
house painting in day time and teaching music at night. The family finally 
settled at St. Clairsville, Ohio, where our subject studied law and began 
practice. Business came to him slowly, but he was so successful in hand- 
ling his cases that in a very few years he was classed among the able 
attorneys of Eastern Ohio. 

Mr. Peck at the same time had a large clientage also in Wheeling, but for 
many years maintained a palatial residence at St. Clairsville, only ten 
miles from Wheeling. He resided there for thirty-four years. In February, 
1863, he purchased a lot of ground on the southeast corner of Chapline and 
Fourteenth Streets in the city of Wheeling, built a handsome residence 
and a large law office adjoining it, where he spent the remainder of his 
life. He was a sound and thorough lawyer and a wise counselor, and 
earned a large estate wholly from his law practice. He practiced in all the 
courts of Ohio and West Virginia for full sixty years. He was a man about 
six feet tall and weighed about two hundred pounds, and was extremely 
homely, but was gentle, generous and kind. His home life was simply 
beautiful, and his integrity was above reproach. 

He married Miss Olivia Jones, of St. Clairsville, in 1843, and reared an 
interesting family. He died November 5, 1885, in the eighty-seventh year 
of his age. 

Although he never was in college he was a man of great learning and 
industry. He was a Republican in politics and a Christian in whom there 


50 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


was no guile. The only office he ever held was a member of the Constitu- 
tional Convention of Ohio in 1850. He never sought an office of any kind. 
He was first a Whig and finally became a Republican in polities. 


Hon. John J. Jacob, A.M. 


The subject of this sketch was the son of a local Methodist minister, 
and was born at Romney, Hampshire County, Virginia, December 9, 1829. 
He received his education at the High Grade Academy at Romney, known 
as the Romney Classical Institute, where he took a complete course in all 
of the higher branches of a classical education. He at once entered Dick- 
inson College at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where he remained until 1859, 
graduating in the class of that year with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. 
He thereafter became a professor in the University of Missouri. Im the 
meantime he began the study of law, which he vigilantly pursued while a 
member of the faculty of the University. In 1865 he resigned from the 
University, returned to his former home at Romney, passed a ereditable 
examination, was admitted as a member of the Hampshire County Bar, 
and began practicing as the junior member of the law firm of White and 
Jacob in the summer of 1865. Both members of the firm were well 
grounded in all branches of the law, and it was, therefore, but a short time 
until they became the leading lawyers of Hampshire and surrounding 
counties. Their practice was of a general character, and extended into all 
the State and Federal Courts. Both of them were known, not only as strong 
members of the profession, but were regarded as men of integrity and of 
high moral character, which greatly increased their volume of business. 
Both of them were Democrats, and that political party was largely in the 
ascendancy in that part of the State, which was helpful to them in business 
and added greatly to their popularity as attorneys. 

In 1869 Mr. Jacob was elected a member of the State Legislature from 
Hampshire County, and therein was brought into such general notice and 
popularity throughout the State that, in 1870, he was elected Governor of 
the Commonwealth. While he was holding the office of Chief Executive a 
Constitutional Convention to frame a new Constitution for the State was 
held, which, among other things, fixed the term of Governor at four years, 
instead of two, as it had been formerly, and Governor Jacob became ua 
candidate for re-election. The Democratic party, of which he was a mem- 
ber, nominated Hon J. N. Camden as the candidate of the party for the 
office. Governor Jacob became an independant candidate, the Republicans 
being in the minority, declined to nominate a candidate, indorsed Goy- 
ernor Jacob, and he was elected, thus enabling him to serve six years as 
Chief Executive, a longer term than was ever held by any other candidate 
since the organization of the State, in 1863. At that time the capital of 
the State was at the city of Wheeling. 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 51 


At the expiration of his term he located in Wheeling in the practice of 
his profession, and became one of the leaders of that eminent Bar. He 
was thoroughly posted in all branches of the law, and in a brief period he 
secured a profitable share of the business of that thrifty city. In 1879 he 
was elected a member of the State Legislature, and in 1881 Governor 
Jackson appointed him Judge of the First Cireuit to fill the vacaney caused 
by the resignation of Judge Thayer Melvin. In 1882 he was elected by the 
people to that responsible position. 

He was a learned lawyer and was an exceptionally able judge. No taint 
of any sort was ever attached to his name or to any of his public acts. 
He returned again to his law practice and was remarkably prosperous, 
when he was stricken with apoplexy, and died within a few minutes. He 
was honorable and upright in all of his public and private dealings. His 
death occurred at Wheeling when he was but little above the age of sixty. 


Captain Alexander M. Poundstone 


Among the well known, long established and successful lawyers of the 
central portion of the State was the subject of this sketch. He was born 
in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, February 26, 1835, and after a long and 
useful life of nearly eighty-three years, died at Buckhannon, West Vir- 
ginia, April 14, 1917, where he had practiced law successfully for upwards 
of half a century. He was educated at Dunlap’s Creek Academy and 
Green Academy, at Carmichael’s Pennsylvania, and at Alleghany College, 
Meadeville, also in Pennsylvania. After completing the junior year he 
answered the call of the colors, enlisting in the Federal Army and serving 
until the close of the war. His fighting rank was that of Captain, but at 
the end of hostilities he was given a Major’s Commission by brevet. He, 
however, always went by the title of Captain. During the war he partici- 
pated in a large number of hotly contested battles. After peace was 
declared he began the study of law under the direction of an uncle who 
resided at New Lexington, Ohio. 

Though a native of Pennsylvania, he removed to Buckhannon, West 
Virginia, went through his work of preparation, and entered at once upon 
the duties of his chosen profession, serving Upshur County fourteen years 
as its prosecuting attorney. He was frequently called upon to sit as 
Special Judge, presiding there with both dignity and accuracy. He soon 
won his way into a successful practice; indeed, he was one of the leaders 
of the Bar in the series of counties of the central section of the Common- 
wealth. In 1872, and again in 1879, he was elected a member of the West 
Virginia Legislature. As a lawmaker, as in everything else, he was pains- 
taking in everything that came before him. He was a loyal member of 
the Republican Party and was d life-long member of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, serving many years as an official member thereof. He was 


- 


52 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


a member of the military order of the Loyal Legion and of the local Grand 
Army Post. He died firm in the Christian faith, loyal to his country and 
faithful to kindred and friends. 

He appreciated the worth of the highest education, declaring to the 
writer that the regret of his life had been that he did not return to college 
and complete the course and receive the instruction of the senior year. 
He excelled in language, being ready in Latin and such a master in the 
use of English that inaccuracies therein were little less than painful to his 
trained ear. 

He was made a trustee of Wesleyan College, Buckhannon, when the 
school was first established as a seminary, and continued in that relation to 
the end of his useful life, having been vice-president of its board of trustees 
for many years. 

Captain Poundstone married a daughter of James McCormick, of Fayette 
County, Pennsylvania, by whom he had three children, two daughters and a 
son, Homer C., who is now a Lieutenant Commander of the United States 
Navy. 


Judge James Brewer Sommerville 


Mr. Sommerville was born in Brooke County, Virginia, June 5, 1852. He 
was reared on a farm, and knows the ins and outs of hard labor ‘‘ from 
sun-up to sun-down.’’ He graduated from the State Normal School at West 
Liberty, Ohio County, West Virginia, a high grade academy, in 1872. He 
subsequently attended Bethany College at Bethany, Brooke County, where 
he rounded out a college education. For five years thereafter he taught 
in the public schools of his native locality, during which time all of his 
leisure moments were devoted to the study of legal text books. In 1878 he 
found himself sufficiently equipped to pass the required examination; in 
September of that year he was licensed to practice, and was admitted as 
a member of the Brooke County Bar, from which point as an office centre, 
he, in an unusually short period of time, found himself in the possession 
of a very profitable business. Seeking a wider field of labor, however, and 
feeling his ability as a lawyer, to take care of a larger business, he moved 
his office to Wheeling, where he has since resided, and where he is regarded 
one of the leading lawyers of that able and progressive Bar. He conducts 
a general practice in all State and Federal Courts, but for several years 
past, he has specialized in corporation matters, in which he has been 
unusually successful, and has a profitable clientele. He is a man of the 
highest honor and integrity, and has the confidence of the people generally, 
and particularly those members of the profession with whom he transacts 
business. He is one of the most genial of gentlemen and has an air of 
sociability about him most difficult to rival. 

He is a Democrat, and has mixed considerably in polities, but never to 
the injury or detriment of his practice as a lawyer. He was a member of 


JUDGE J. B. SOMMERVILLE 


54 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


the West Virginia House of Delegates in 1877, and was promoted to the 
State Senate in 1885, where he served with marked ability for four years. 
He is a forceful trial lawyer, and his superior debating qualities served him 
well as a legislator. In one of the legislative sessions he only lacked a 
very few votes to elect him to the United States Senate, although he was not 
seeking the position. 

He has always manifested a deep interest in education, and was for a 
number of years an active member of the Board of Regents of the State 
Normal Schools, the State University, and the Deaf, Dumb and Blind 
Schools. He married Miss Aggie G. Hosie, of Brooke County, May 13, 
1879. He is an active member of the State Bar Association, and takes a 
deep interest in the civic development of his county and State. He is 
attorney for several large corporations in his section of West Virginia. 

In September, 1918, he was appointed by Governor Cornwell Judge of the 
First Judicial Circuit, to fill out the term of Judge H. C. Hervey, deceased. 
His appointment was agreed to by the Republican attorneys of the circuit, 
as well as the Democrats, as a wise and proper selection, because he is a 
well-equipped lawyer, and possesses the judicial temperament. He declined 
to accept until he was assured of the united support of the lawyers of all 
classes and all political parties. He will no doubt prove to be an able 
and just judge, and will continue to wear ‘‘ the judicial ermine ’’ the rest 
of his days, unless he decrees otherwise. 


@ 


Hon. Daniel Lamb 


Mr. Lamb was one of the most distinguished and able members of the 
Ohio County Bar. He was born in Connellsville, Pennsylvania, January 22, 
1810, and died at Wheeling, West Virginia, when nearly eighty years of 
age. In April, 1823, his parents moved to Wheeling, Virginia. Having 


acquired a good scholastic training Mr. Lamb chose the law as his vocation 
in life. He read law under Morgan Nelson, a distinguished Wheeling 
attorney, and was admitted to practice in the Wheeling Courts in 1837, 
and soon took a leading position by virtue of his energy and ability. 
Whilst his success at the Bar seemed to be determined, and certainly 
could not have been more promising, yet in 1848 he accepted the position 
of cashier of the old Northwestern Bank of Virginia in Wheeling, and 
remained as such until the bank was merged into another institution in 
1863. He, however, again promptly resumed his law practice, and kept 
it up to the day of his death. In knowledge of the law as a science, and 
in character and personal influence with his associates at the Wheeling Bar, 
no man, in his day, stood higher. He was one of the wisest and safest of 
sounselors. In draughting intricate and difficult papers of any sort he was 
an expert, and was always sought after and relied upon. In codifying 
laws he had no superior in this State, and very few, if any, equals. 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 55 


He was one of the strong men, after Virginia seceded from the Union, 
that organized the Restored Government of Virginia at Wheeling, in May, 
1861, which ultimately resulted in bringing West Virginia into the Union 
as a sovereign State. He was a member of the Convention that prepared 
West Virginia’s first Constitution, and was its chief draughtsman. He 
was also a prominent member of the first Legislature of West Virginia, 
and to his wise counsel and great power as a legal draughtsman may be 
attributed, in a large degree, the success of the new State. He was kept 
in the Legislature, from Ohio County, continuously up to and ineluding 
1867. He was often urged to enter politics, but declined. He was also urged 
to become a candidate for a position on the Supreme Court of Appeals of 
the State, but he declined, because he preferred the practice to a place in 
the judiciary. As a lawyer he was noted for the thorough preparation of 
his cases, as having a sound legal mind, and a perfect knowledge of the 
law he sought to present. He was a poor advocate, but was always strong 
before a court. 

Mr. Lamb was originally a Whig, but was a Republican until 1870, when 
he became a ‘‘ Conservative,’’ and in his later years acted with the 
Democrats. He married in early life, and had one son, Gibson Lamb, who 
was a prominent banker of Wheeling for many years, but died when 
comparatively a young man. Mr. Lamb’s people were Quakers, but he was 
an Episcopalian. The people who knew him were all his friends. He is 
often referred to as one of the wisest and best of men. 


Col. Joseph H. Pendleton 


One of the very best natural lawyers the writer ever knew was the 
subject of this brief sketch. He was a native of Louisa County, Virginia, 
where he grew to manhood. He came to the western part of the State, 
and entered Bethany College in Brooke County in 1844. Four years later 
he graduated with high honors. Immediately thereafter he went to 
Staunton, Augusta County, and entered Judge Thompson’s Law School in 
that town. After completing the prescribed course of study in that 
school he returned to Brooke County and opened a law office in Wellsburg, 
the seat of justice of that county. He remained there until August, 1851, 
when he located in the city of Wheeling, where he soon became one of the 
leading lawyers of that city. When the Civil War came on, he entered 
the Confederate Army as Major of the 23d Regiment of Virginia Volunteers 
and remained in that service until the close of the war, when he returned 
to Wheeling and resumed the practice of his profession. As we have stated 
above, he was by intuition a lawyer, although he was never a hard student 
of the law, but as an advocate he had but few equals, and as such he 
ranked among the most brilliant of his contemporaries. 


56 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


While he was in the Confederate Army he was chosen, in 1863-4 and 5, 
a member of the Virginia Legislature, which convened in the City of Rich- 
mond, holding his commission at the same time in the Confederate Army. 
He died in the City of Wheeling, at an advanced age, where he spent the 
larger portion of his life. 


Judge Ralph L. Berkshire 


R. L. Berkshire was born in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, April 8, 1816. 
From there he moved with his father, William Berkshire, a farmer, the 
following year, to Monongalia County, Virginia. He worked on the farm 
with his father until he reached his ‘‘ teens ’’, when he learned the car- 
penter trade, which he followed for a time and in which he became pro- 
ficient. When he reached his majority he began the study of law under 
the direction of Guy R. C. Allen, in 1838, one of the eminent lawyers of 
the Morgantown Bar. In 1841 he was licensed to practice, and gave all his 
time to reading and study that he could spare from the limited practice that 
came his way. He had a retentive memory and a strong intellect, which, 
coupled with honesty and industry, enabled him to command the attention 
of the people of the community, and aided him to earn a respectabte 
support. In 1847 he was appointed Prosecuting Attorney of Monongalia 
County, and in 1852 he was elected by the people to the same office. He 
made a strong prosecutor and was thoroughly honorable and trustworthy. 
In 1860 he was the Whig candidate for Cireuit Court Judge, but was 
defeated by the candidate of the Democrats. 

He took an active part in the formation of the State of West Virginia; 
was a member of the Wheeling Convention, and his loyalty and fidelity to 
the Union made him one of the strong supports of the loyalists in the early 
days of the State. Judge Thompson, who was elected Cireuit Judge in 
1860, joined the Confederate cause in 1861, and Mr. Berkshire was appointeé@ 
in his stead, and served efficiently until 1863, when he was elected one of 
the three first Supreme Court Judges of the State. Before Judge Berkshire 
was elected to any office, except that of Prosecuting Attorney, he was an 
unusually successful practicing attorney. He was strong of body and mind, 
and his industry and attentiveness to his business were almost without 
limit, and with the exception of the six years he was on the Bench, he 
devoted all of his mature life to the active practice of his profession. 

Judge Berkshire, in a large degree, possessed the judicial temperament. 
He had strong common sense and could see the strong point in a ease, and 
his unflinching integrity guided him to a proper conclusion in every ease. 
His prominent characteristics were a strong will, unerring judgment, a 
large fund of humor, a keen knowledge of human nature, rigid devotion to 
what he believed to be right, and an integrity of character that riches 
dared not attempt to bribe and could not corrupt. In short, his personal 
character was beautiful in simplicity and gentleness. 


JUDGE RALPH L. BERKSHIRE 


58 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


He was a life-long member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and till 
the day of his death he had the confidence and respect of all the people 
who knew him. He was social in his make-up, was devoted to his family 
and friends, and was at all times a Christian gentleman. He was an honor 
to the Bench and Bar of the Commonwealth. 


Hon. John Edward Kenna 


John HE. Kenna, the son of Edward and Marjory (Lewis) Kenna, was 
born in Kanawha County, Virginia, April 10, 1848. When he was ten years 
of age his parents moved to Missouri, where he grew to manhood, working 
on a farm, and attending common schools, thus obtaining the best rudi- 
mentary education within his reach. When he was but sixteen years of age 
he volunteered in the Confederate Army as a private soldier and remained 
therein until the Civil War closed. He pcssessed a marvelously retentive 
memory, and by associations with men of intelligence during that period 
his mind was deveioped in a remarkable manner. He participated in a 
number of hard fought battles, in one of which he was badly wounded in 
one of his shoulders, but he never left his command. He, however, was 
confined in a hospital with typhoid fever for six weeks while on duty in 
Arkansas. In June, 1865, he was captured when his command was sur- 
rendered at Shreveport, Louisiana. His parents, in the meantime, had 
returned to their Virginia home, whither he came, and where he spent the 
remainder of his life. He was employed at a salt furnace until 1866, when, 
realizing the importance of a more thorough education, he entered St. 
Vincent’s Academy at Wheeling, where he remained two years in faithful 
study. His father was an able lawyer, and in early life the son decided to 
adopt that profession, so he returned to Kanawha County, and entered tie 
law office of Miller and Quarrier, where he began a systematic course ot 
study, and pursued it diligently until June 20, 1870, when he was admitted 
as a member of the Kanawha Bar. 

He was energetic, self-assertive and self-reliant, and very soon after his 
admission as an attorney the fact was revealed that he possessed unusual 
ability and was a young man of great promise; consequently in the Fall of 
1872 he was nominated and elected Presecuting Attorney of Kanawha 
County, in which office he served efficiently and with great acceptability. 
In 1874 he was a candidate for Congress, and came within a few votes of 
winning the nomination. The cause of his defeat was his youthfulness. 
However, in 1876 he secured the nomination and was elected a member of 
the American Congress. Being a ready debater, and a hard worker, he 
proved to be a useful member, and the result was he was three times 
re-elected, making in all four terms. He however, served only a part of 
his fourth term, because of the fact he was elected a United States Senator 
in the Winter of 1883, and was re-elected six years later to a second term 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 59 


in the Senate. He was a natural leader of men. His power over men of 
all classes was wonderful. He was tall and well-proportioned, was a mag- 
netic speaker and was genial and social, and was courageous in the extreme. 
No sort of opposition daunted him. He met all comers without fear or 
favor. Like Spartacus he never lowered his arm. He was firm in his con- 
victions, and stood unalterably by what he considered right and in the 
line of duty. It cannot be denied that he possessed many elements of 
greatness. His marble statue stands in the Hall of Fame in the Capitol 
of the United States at Washington. He was always a consistent adherent 
to the Democratic Party, and ‘‘ never deserted the faith.’’ No other West 
Virginian ever commanded a larger following of personal friends. 

Senator Kenna was also an able lawyer. Notwithstanding the fact that 
much of his time was spent in public life, he, at the same time, conducted 
a large and profitable law business, and participated in the trial of a 
large number of important cases. Had he devoted all of his time and 
energies to the practice of his profession his rank, as a lawyer, would have 
been very high. His great natural ability would have unquestionably 
placed him in the front rank. As it was, he, nevertheless, stood high in 
the legal profession of West Virginia. 

Senator Kenna was twice married and had one daughter by his firse 
wife, and five sons and one daughter by his second wife. All of his sons, 
except one who died in infancy, are big, strong, brainy men. One of them 
(Edward B.) died in young manhood. One of the three who are living is a 
very promising young lawyer of Charleston, who is making good as a 
member of the Kanawha Bar. The other two are engaged in business 
pursuits. 

Senator Kenna departed this life before his sun had reached its noon, 
January 11, 1893, while serving his second term as a Senator in the 
Congress of the United States, and his remains were buried in the City 
Cemetery at Charleston amid a great throng of his admiring fellow citizens. 
He died as he had lived, a faithful adherent of the Roman Catholic 
religion, as did his father before him. 


Hon. Aretas Brooks Fleming, LL.D. 


Our subject is the son of Benjamin F. and Rhoda B. Fleming, all of 
whom are natives of Marion County, Virginia, now West Virginia. He was 
educated in the common schools, and at the University of Virginia at 
Charlottesville, from which he graduated in the law department, then 
conducted by that able and distinguished lawyer and teacher Dr. John B. 
Minor, who never issued a diploma to a student who was not, in all 
respects, competent to receive it. He was admitted to the Marion County 
Bar in 1860, where he is still practicing. He is of medium height, of 
stocky build, and although long since past the meridian of life, carries the 


60 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


appearance of one much younger in years. His practice, extending over 
many years, embraced cases in all the State and Federal Courts, in 
which he has been unusually successful. By industry, honorable con- 
duct, and proper methods of living, he has accumulated a large estate, 
which he carefully supervises and thoroughly enjoys. He is known and 
respected as an upright man, and honest in both thought and purpose, 
which in a large degree, account for his success in life. In the beginning of 
his career, he saw and believed that the ability to earn, power to learn, and 
the faculty of looking forward are the three capacities requisite to suc- 
cess in his profession, and he followed them to the letter, and has 
succeeded grandly. 

Judge Fleming was a member of the West Virginia Legislature for two 
terms, and served successfully eleven years as a judge of the Cireuit Court. 
In 1888, he was the nominee of the Democratic Party and was elected and 
served faithfully until the end of a four-year term as Governor of the 
Commonwealth. In all of his official acts he was both courteous and con- 
servative, and with his modesty and urbanity went no shadow of weakness 
or lack of decision, but on the contrary, the ‘‘ fortiter in re’’ was an 
essential part of his nature, necessary to his own self respect and com- 
manding the respect of others. 

After his term of Governor expired, he returned to Fairmont and 
resumed his law practice, which was large and profitable, and although his 
health has not been good for the last two or three years, he has several 
attorneys in his office, who carry the greater part of the burden of his 
large volume of business, but it is all supervised and directed by himself. 
For several years past he has confined all of his energies to the business 
of large corporations, and is known to be one of the State’s ablesr 
attorneys in that branch of the law. 

Governor Fleming married in early life, has five children, and resides 
in the City of Fairmont, in the county where he was born, with several 
grandchildren gathered about him, who are a pleasure and comfort to 
him in his declining years. 


Judge John S. Hoffman 


The subject of this sketch was born at Weston, Lewis County, Virginia, 
June 25, 1821, and received his education in the common and select schools 
of that section of the State. He was a young man of industrious habits, 
and of excellent character. His purpose in early life was to become a 
lawyer, and his reading of books was in that direction. He was of large 
stature and possessed a rugged intellect. He read law under the direction 
of his uncle, Gideon D. Camden, a distinguished lawyer and jurist of that 
period, and was admitted to the Lewis County Bar soon after he reached 
his majority. During his mature life he was an industrious, methodical 
student. From the beginning of his career he was imbued with the deter- 


JUDGE JOHN S. HOFFMAN 


62 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


mination to become a successful lawyer, and he, therefore, lived a life of 
labor and self denial in order that he might make good his early deter- 
mination. He not only succeeded, but he succeeded grandly. 

Whilst he was well informed in all the branches of the law, he specialized 
in land titles and land litigations, in which he made a distinguished reputa- 
tion. There have been but few, if indeed any, lawyers in Virginia and 
West Virginia who surpassed him in his legal knowledge of all questions 
affecting land titles. Im this branch of the profession he amassed a large 
fortune, which he distributed wisely prior to his death. 

He was an ardent Whig in politics, and possessed a genial and friendly 
disposition, which made him popular with the people, but he rarely took 
part in political campaigns. However, he was elected a member of the 
Legislature of Virginia in the campaign of 1858, wherein he served with 
distinction. The only additional office he ever held was an Associate Judge 
or the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, to which he was elected 
in 1872. His opinions, whilst a member of that distinguished tribunal, 
were marked by thoughtful care and an accurate knowledge of the law. 

At the breaking out of the Civil War he went with the South, entered 
the Confederate Army, and lost a leg in the defense of his convictions. 
He never fully recovered from the wound, which robbed him of much of 
his former energy and vigor. In his later years he identified himself with 
the Democratic Party. At no time did he ever deviate from the paths of 
rectitude and virtue in his methods of living. His devotion to his profession 
and his success therein is a worthy example to young men in all callings 
of the present day. His health while he was on the Supreme Bench of the 
State gradually weakened, until in 1876 he was compelled to resign and 
cease labor of all kinds; and on November 18, 1877, at the City of Clarks- 
burg, where he had resided for a number of years, he surrendered his trust 


and quietly ‘‘ fell on sleep.’’ 
Judge Hoffman never took unto himself a wife. His remains lie buried 


in the Odd Fellows Cemetery at Clarksburg, and the spot is marked by a 
plain, but imposing monument inscribed to his memory, and that of his 
uncle, the late Judge G. D. Camden. 


Judge Henry Brannon, A.B. 


Judge Henry Brannon, of the Lewis County Bar, departed this life on 
the 24th day of November, 1914, at his home in the City of Weston, aged 
77 years. 

Judge Brannon was born November 26, 1837, at Winchester, Virginia. 
He was graduated from the University of Virginia in the year 1857 with 
the degree of A.B. He was married to Miss Hetta J. Arnold, of Weston, 
in 1858, and was admitted to the Bar in 1859 and soon became a lawyer of 
distinction. He was prosecuting attorney of Lewis County from 1860 to 


JUDGE HENRY BRANNON 


64 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


1865. He served two terms in the Legislature, in 1870 and 1871. He was 
elected Judge of the Eleventh District and served as a Judge of the Cireuit 
Court for eight years, and was a Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeals 
for twenty-four years, when he voluntarily retired. 

Judge Brannon retained his mental faculties until the last. On the day 
that death came to him suddenly he had argued a case in court. 

Thus passed one of the greatest lawyers and perhaps the greatest jurist 
that West Virginia has ever brought forth. He was a natural born lawyer 
and he possessed an analytical mind and could express himself with a clear- 
ness that has been rarely equalled. His decisions lay down the law in such a 
comprehensive and convincing manner that his opinions are greatly relied 
upon in all the States of the Union. He so dignified the subjects upon 
which he exercised the powers of logical deduction that his cases are 
leading cases on the topics discussed therein. He had the wisdom of the 
historian; the wit of the poet; subtlety of the mathematician; and the 
logie and rhetoric of the eminent lawyer. ; 

He found pleasure and peace in literature, and in conversation was one 
of the most entertaining of men. He was a pleasing writer. He was the 
author of a treatise on the Rights and Privileges under the Fourteenth 
Amendment to the United States Constitution, which is a standard authority 
upon the questions arising thereunder. 

No man had a greater part in forming and fixing the laws of Wesz 
Virginia than Judge Brannon. He was the interpreter of the law of a new 
State, and thoroughly identified with the formation and progress of West 
Virginia. As Cicero said: ‘‘ For as the law is set over the magistrate, 
even so are the magistrates set over the people. And therefore it may be 
truly said, that the magistrate is a speaking law, and the law is a silent 
magistrate.’? As great as West Virginia has become by reason of its 
fixed and comprehensive laws and rules of conduct, a large part is due 
to the work, ability, and comprehension of Judge Brannon, performed 
during the long years of his service to the people of the State. 

Whilst a practitioner at the Bar, he was regarded as one of the ablest 
and most successful lawyers of the entire State. He was careful, methodical 
and painstaking in the preparation of his cases. As an advocate he was 
logical and eloquent, and usually won, by his superior skill and thorough 
knowledge of the law, many hotly contested cases in the courts. He was a 
man of marked personal appearance; was about six feet tall and weighed, 
perhaps, 190 pounds; his features were strong and his whole appearance 
presented an aspect of force. Through his entire career he was an untiring 
student. His learning was varied and extensive. Rarely is there found in 
the ranks of men one so symmetrical in mind and character, one so sound 
in judgment, so unerring in moral perception, so faithful to every duty and 
so loyal to the right. In private life he was pure and without a cloud or 
a stain. He was a devoted husband and a loving father. What he believed 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 65 


he felt, and what he felt he spoke, and acted promptly, vigorously and with 
conscientious candor, and withal, he had a charming and winning personality. 
In manners he was at all times suave and courteous, and was a genial com- 
panion of both the young and the old, and always demeaned himself as a 
thorough gentleman. His like, in all respects, will be difficult to find. 
He was universally respected by all who knew him. 


Hon. Samuel A. Miller 


One of the able lawyers of the Kanawha Bar, of a generation recently 
passed, is the subject of this sketch. He was born in Shenandoah County, 
Virginia, in 1818, and in 1842, when he was a young man, in the bloom of 
youth, he migrated to Kanawha County, and made up his mind to locate 
there permanently. He had received an ordinary English education, and 
before leaving the Valley of Virginia, he decided to read law. After a 
careful study of the required legal text books, he successfully passed the 
necessary examination, was licensed as an attorney, and became a member 
of the Kanawha County Bar. He had a clear legal mind, and being 
naturally studious, he was not long in taking a fair rank with the leading 
lawyers of that period. He found the land laws in this portion or 
Virginia in an unsettled and unsatisfactory condition, so he decided to 
make the settlement of land titles a specialty, although he was well 
posted in the different branches of the profession; and in the course of a 
few years, he built up a reputation as a prominent ‘‘ land lawyer.’’ He 
also became deeply interested in the manufacture of salt, which at, tha? 
time, was the chief industry of the Great Kanawha Valley. For a few 
years, he was president of the Kanawha Salt Company, a corporation 
that controlled the price of salt for many of the states to the West and 
South of the place of its manufacture. He, however, did not, during this 
period, give up his large law practice, or any part of it. 

The war came on, and he volunteered in the Confederate Army, remaining 
therein until the close of hostilities, and retiring therefrom with the rank 
of Major. He returned to Charleston, resumed his law practice, and became 
one of the leading lawyers of that section of the State. During the 
pendency of the war, he was a Representative of the Southern portion of 
Western Virginia in the Confederate States Congress. He married the 
daughter of A. W. Quarrier, by whom he had five children. He continued 
to reside in Charleston, until the time of his death, which took place in 
October, 1890. He was a close student of the law, and is remembered as 
a genial man of gentle nature, who was honored and beloved by those 
who came in contact with him. 


3 


66 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Judge Adam C. Snyder 


Judge Snyder was born in Highland County, Virginia, March 26, 1834. 
In 1852-53 he attended Mossy Creek Academy, Augusta County, Virginia, 
and in 1854-55 Tuscarora Academy, Pennsylvania, for a year (1856) he 
was a student at Dickinson College, Pennsylvania, and from there he went 
to Washington College, Lexington, Virginia, where he remained through 
1857 and ’58, and then entered the celebrated law school of Judge John W. 
Brockenbough, of Lexington, Virginia, where he remained through tne 
college year of 1859. In the Fall of that year he was admitted to member- 
ship of the Greenbrier County Bar, where he practiced his profession unti? 
the time of his death, July 24, 1896. 

Judge Snyder was an apt student, strong of both body and mind, and 
what he learned was not by memory or rote. His ideas became a part of 
his life, like the sap of a tree, enlarging and strengthening him, year by 
year, by real growth and vitalizing force. His thoughts therefore, were 
clear cut, exact and easily understood. 

In 1861 he volunteered in the Confederate Army and was an Adjutant in 
the ‘‘ Stonewall Brigade ’’; was captured by the Federals in 1863 ana 
was held as a prisoner of war until 1864, when he returned to his command, 
and remained until the close of the war. He then resumed his practice at 
Lewisburg. In 1869 he married Miss Henrietta H. Carey, of Lewisburg. 
Five children resulted from this marriage. 

In the meantime he became one of the noted lawyers of his section of 
the State, and in 1882 he was appointed a member of the Supreme Court or 
Appeals of the State to fill the unexpired term of Judge J. F. Pattor, . 
deceased. In 1884 he was elected to the same position for the full term 
of twelve years. He served ably until 1890, when he resigned and returned 
to the practice of his profession. His opinions which are published in 
several volumes of our West Virginia Reports (20 to 36 inclusive), are 
models. They generally give but one reason for the point decided and 
that the best one which is sustained by citation of the most pertinent 
authorities. He was a most conscientious judge. His whole desire was to 
decide a case according to law, without regard to consequence. Nothing 
but strong reason and authority, having the force of stare decisis, could 
force him from a position he had taken, after he had given it due con- 
sideration. As long as jurisprudence shall command the admiration of 
lawyers and judges, and have the respect of the people, the value of 
Judge Snyder’s strong and convincing opinions will never fade, but will 
increase as the years go by. 

Judge Snyder was a Democrat in his political convictions, but was never 
narrow or hide-bound. He was at all times a broad, liberal, brainy man. 
He was tall, rawboned, with clean cut features, wore whiskers closely 
trimmed, was round shouldered, even stooped as if the weight of years of 
wisdom might have taxed his frame. He died in the prime of life, esteemed 
by all his fellow citizens, whose pleasure it was to know him. 


JUDGE ADAM C. SNYDER 


68 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Judge James Paull 


Hon. James Paull, an Associate Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeals 
of West Virginia, and an eminent member of the Ohio County Bar, son of 
George and Elizabeth Paull, was born near St. Clairsville, Bellmont County, 
Ohio, July 6, 1818. He began his studies in the Ohio public schools; subse- 
quently he matriculated as a student at Washington College, Pennsylvania, 
from which he graduated in the class of 1835. After reading law for a time 
in the office of Zachariah Jacob, of Wheeling, one of the eminent attorneys 
of that city, he finished his law studies at the University of Virginia. 
For a year or more he taught some of the higher branches at Linsly 
Institute, a high grade academy at Wheeling, and then began the practice 
of the law in partnership with his former instructor, Z. Jacob, under 
the firm name of Jacob and Paull, and was successful almost from the day 
he began to practice. 

In 1855 and ’56 he represented Ohio County in the Legislature of Virginia 
at Richmond, as a Whig. With this exception he never held a political 
office, and never aspired to any. The only other public office he ever held 
was an Associate Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeals of the State, to 
which he was nominated and elected as a Democrat in 1872. With the 
exception of his two years’ service in the Virginia Legislature, he devoted 
himself wholly to the law, in which he became eminent before he passed 
his fortieth milestone. He was of frail build, and was an inveterate worker. 
The duties of the Supreme Bench were both trying and exacting, which 
overtaxed his strength, and rather than shirk his duties or fail to do his 
full share of the work of the court, his strength gave way, and he died in 
the harness at his home in Brooke County, May 11, 1875, at the age of 
fifty-seven years. His decisions were clear, able, exhaustive, honest. He 
left a lofty record as an Appellate Judge, and as a citizen he was 
universally regarded as an honest man. As a lawyer and judge no other 
man ever left a cleaner or nobler record as a heritage to his family and 
his friends. He had no other aim or desire in life than to be right and to 
do right. His own and not the public sense was his rule of action as a 
citizen, a lawyer and a judge. There were never any ins or outs in his 
private or public life. He paid little court to the people, and practiced no 
artifices and employed no gratitudes to enlist them in his interests or pur- 
poses. He influenced men not so much by the sublimity of his sentiments 
as he inspired confidence and admiration of the dignity of his manners, and 
clearness of his understanding and the purity of his life. In taste, culture, 
information and sound judgment he occupied a high place among men. His 
home hfe was beautiful. He was not a negative, but was an active 
Christian. For the greater part of his life he was an active, useful member 
of the Presbyterian Church, eighteen years of which he was a Ruling Elder 
of the same. He was constant in good words and works, and left an 
abiding influence for good on the times in which he lived. 


JUDGE JAMES PAULL 


70 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Judge Paull was twice married. The greater part of his life was spent 
in the city of Wheeling, but some eighteen months before he died he 
purchased a beautiful residence on high ground at Wellsburg, Brooke County, 
which is still occupied, by one or more members of his family. 

Judge Paull is a name that adorns the historic page of both Church 
and State, whose talents were used for the good of his fellow men, and 
whose name will be cherished for what he was and did, even after the 
marble slab that marks his last resting place shall have erumbled into dust. 


Hon. John William Davis, A.B., LL.B., LL.D. 


The subject of this brief sketch, son of the late Hon. John J. and Anna 
Kennedy Davis, of Clarksburg, West Virginia, was born in that city Aprii 
13, 1873; was educated in the schools of his native city, and at Washington 
and Lee University, Virginia, from which he graduated in the classical 
course in 1892 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. In 1895 he completed 
the required law course, and was awarded the degree of Bachelor of Laws. 
In 1915, his alma mater conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Laws. 
For a short time after his graduation, he was a member of the faculty of 
the law department of the university, and proved himself to be a teacher 
of remarkable qualifications. At the urgent request of his father, who was 
an eminent lawyer, our subject returned to his native city, and in September, 
1895, was admitted to the Bar of Harrison County and asscciated himself 
with his father in the practice of law under the firm name of Davis & Davis. 
From the very beginning of his practice, he revealed an unusual aptitude 
for his chosen profession, and so marked was his success that it soon became 
evident that he was destined to reach the highest place in the legal 
profession. 

Being a young man of unusually attractive personality, he soon had a 
host of admiring friends, many of whom urged him to enter polities, which 
he persistently declined to do. However, in 1899, he was prevailed upon 
to become a candidate for the House of Delegates, and notwithstanding 
the fact that he was a pronounced Democrat and his county was strongly 
Republican, he was elected by a decisive majority. He was made Chairman 
of the Judiciary Committee of the House; served with zeal and efficiency, 
and acquitted himself with credit and honor. His friends soon learned 
that he possessed the elements of leadership, and accordingly began to 
urge that he should stand for further political preferment. He persistently 
declined -to enter politics, but the nomination to the 62d Congress from 
the First West Virginia District was practically forced upon him, and, 
although the district had a large Republican majority, he was elected, and 
two years later he was re-elected a member of the 63d Congress. In the 
House of Representatives, he showed unusual adaptability for legislative 
service, and distinguished himself as a member of the Judiciary Committee. 


HON. JOHN W. DAVIS 


72 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Because of his well-known legal attainments, he was selected as one of 
the managers on the part of the House in the impeachment of Judge 
Robert W. Archbold, a Judge of the Circuit Court of the United States. 
His argument at the trial of the impeachment made a profound impression 
upon the Senate of the United States. It overwhelmed the contentions of 
the eminent and learned counsel for the accused. It was unanswerable. 

While serving his second term in Congress, Mr. Davis was tendered 
the office of Solicitor General of the United States by President Wilson. 
In this great office, where his legal attainments have been thoroughly tested 
in many noted causes before the Supreme Court of the United States, he 
has made a nation-wide reputation as a lawyer of pre-eminent ability. 
He has not only the respect, but the admiration of that great court, every 
member of which would, as is well known, welcome him with open arms 
to fellow-membership. 

Mr. Davis was president of the West Virginia Bar Association in 1906, 
and in 1909 was a member of the West Virginia Commission on Uniform 
Laws. 

With all the honors fhat have come to the Solicitor General, he is a very 
modest man, genial, courteous, kindly and ever and always considerate of 
others. Above all, he is a princely gentleman. 

It may be truly said of him that he never wore ‘‘ an undeserved dignity, ’’ 
and that his great honors have been ‘‘ purchased by the merit of the 
wearer. ’’ 

He was recently appointed by President Wilson, Ambassador of the 
United States to the Court of St. James, London, England. Although young 
in years, his friends are confident he possesses the qualifications to fill the 
same with credit to himself and honor to his country. 


Judge Marmaduke H. Dent, A.M. 


The subject of this short memorial, son of Marshall M. and Mary C. Dent, 
was born in Monongalia County, Virginia, April 18, 1849. From both 
sides of his family he inherited strong qualities of mind. His grandfather, 
Dr. D. W. Roberts, was an original Republican, a man of prominence in 
his day, and a delegate to the Republican Convention at Chicago that 
nominated Abraham Lincoln for President of the United States in 1860. 
Judge Dent, however, was always a Democrat. 

Judge Dent’s life was spent in his native county. He graduated, in 
the classical course, at the West Virginia University in the class of 1870, 
receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts. After his graduation he spent 
several years as a teacher in the public schools. Having decided in early 
life to become a lawyer, while teaching school, he began a systematic 
reading of legal text books, and in 1875 was admitted to the Taylor 
County Bar at Grafton, where he was engaged in active practice for 


JUDGE MARMADUKE H. DENT 


74 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


nearly twenty years, up to 1892, when he was elected to membership ot: 
the Supreme Court of Appeals of the State. 

He was a successful practitioner before he became a Judge of the 
Appellate Court. He was handsome and distinguished in appearance, 
dignified and peaceful and affable in manner, and withal he was modest 
and unassuming, with ready sympathies, a keen sense of humor, and a 
refined and cultivated taste in literature. He was solidly grounded in his 
profession, and showed legal ability in important cases. On the whole, 
as a practitioner he made a record worthy of emulation, and one to be 
envied. He was an eloquent and logical speaker, and had the capacity for 
hard, persistent work. In a large degree he possessed the judicial tempera- 
ment, and gave to the causes submitted to him an intelligent mind carefully 
trained. His opinions, therefore, are marked by the most careful researes 
and are supported by ample authorities. It was not unusual for him to 
support his judgments with a line of unanswerable citations of authorities 
on points deemed only secondary by counsel, and yet, after reading the 
opinions of Judge Dent, they readily observed their weight and correctness. 

Judge Dent was always conscientious and of a profoundly religious 
character. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church, and never 
neglected his Christian duties. He was invariably found on the moral 
side of every question that arose in civie matters. In his judicial opinions, 
he was sometimes facetious and novel in his utterances, for example, I 
quote a paragraph from Atkinson v. Plumb, 50 W. Va. 104, which was a 
controversy between two members of the same chureh: ‘‘ But while it 
was the hand of Esau, it was the voice of Jacob. His confidence was 
abused under the guise of friendship, which blinded his eyes and he was 
despoiled by those of his own household: and with the earnest plea for 
retribution he seeks justice against his despoilers. What we have we - 
freely give unto him,— the suit appears to be a contest over a bag of wind.’’ 

Judge Dent was of a most genial disposition, agreeable and gentle in 
his bearing, positive in his convictions, fearless in their expression, al! 
which amply fitted him for the judicial ermine. He was absolutely incor- 
ruptible. Whilst he was extremely affable, he was extremely candid. 
He was always essentially just. His ability was unusual. His life and 
achievements stamped him both as a lawyer and a jurist of the highest 
types. He loved the masses and they revere his memory. He was tender, 
affectionate and thoughtful of the wants of those in his home-life and in 
his associations with the people generally. There was no blot or stain ou 
his private or public career. He will ever be regarded as a clean lawyer, a 
just judge, a true and faithful husband and father, and a man whose life 
and character were enriched with noble qualities of head and heart. 

He died at the city of Grafton, September 11, 1909, honored, respected 
and highly revered by all the people who knew and loved him. 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 75 


Hon. Jacob Beeson Jackson 


From a family whose collateral branches extend into many States of 
the Southland, and whose name is not only historic but renowned and 
influential, destiny determined this member of the Jackson progeny to 
become a noted West Virginia lawyer and politician. His ancestors, on 
both maternal and paternal sides, were among the pioneers of Wood 
County, along the majestic Ohio river whose beautiful waves sweep 
noiselessly through Mississippi’s currents to the Gulf and farther on to the 
sea. Upon his father’s side are generals, lawyers, jurists, statesmen; and 
upon his mother’s —the Beesons— who were among the early settlers of 
the splendid Ohio valley, who possessed firmness, probity, amiability and 
mental and physical vigor. Mr. Jackson was born in Wood County, Virginia, 
April 6, 1828. His early education was obtained in select and private 
schools, especially the one in Parkersburg conducted by the Rev. Festus 
Hanks, whose every effort was to inspire in the boys oratorical taste and 
a desire to equip themselves for high positions in life. In early manhood 
our subject determined to take law for a profession, and began the study 
of legal text books, under the tutelage of his father, which he studiously 
pursued until he was able to pass the required examination for admission 
to the Bar, which occurred in 1852. Departing from the county of his 
nativity, and the assisting influences of home, he began practice at St. 
Marys in the adjoining County of Pleasants. Genial and accommodating 
he soon became popular with the voters, who elected him Prosecuting 
Attorney of the county, which office he successfully filled for eleven years. 

Desiring a wider field of opportunity, in 1864, he located in the city 
of Parkersburg, where his clientele largely increased. By this time he 
was classed among the leading lawyers of that section of the State. In 
1870 he was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Wood County, holding the 
office six years. Near the close of his term he was elected, in 1875, a 
member of the West Virginia Legislature, and was Chairman of the 
Judiciary Committee, becoming one of the floor leaders of the House. In 
1879 he was elected Mayor of the city of Parkersburg, and his friends 
still insist that the city never had a better ruler. He was a generous, 
sociable and enjoyable gentleman, and had many strong friends throughout 
the entire State, so he announcel himself as a candidate for the nomination 
of the Democratic Party for Governor of the Commonwealth. Accordingly 
he was nominated, and was elected to that high office and served the four- 
year term with great acceptability, from March 4, 1881, to March 4, 1885. 
After retiring from the Governor’s office, he resumed the practice of law 
in all of the State and Federal Courts, which he kept up until his death, 
which occurred at Parkersburg at a ripe old age. 

Governor Jackson was a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church. 
In June, 1855, he was united in marriage with Miss Maria Willard, of 
Pleasants County, an amiable and accomplished young lady. They had one 
son, who resides in the old home at Parkersburg, who is a successful attorney. 


76 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Judge Okey Johnson, A.M., LL.B. 


The subject of this brief memoir was born in Tyler County, Virginia, 
March 24, 1834, and was one of a family of fifteen children, all of whom 
were brought up on a farm. He worked on his father’s farm in the 
summer and attended the country schools in the winter. In 1856 he 
graduated from Marietta High School: he studied law at Harvard Uni- 
versity, graduating therefrom in 1858 with the degree of LL.B., and in 
July of that year he was admitted to the Virginia Bar. He located at 
Parkersburg in Wood County; opened a law office and entered upon the 
practice in that and adjoining counties. In 1874 Marietta College, Ohio, 
conferred upon him the degree of Master of Arts, honoris causa. He had 
a liking for politics, and was a presidential candidate in 1864 on the 
McClellan ticket, and in 1872 on the Greeley ticket. He was an orator of 
great attainments, and was popular with the people. In 1870 he was elected, 
as a Democrat, a member of the State Senate, and in 1872 he was chosen 
as a member of the West Virginia Constitutional Convention: In both of 
these bodies he took an active and influential part. He was a superior 
debater, which gave him leadership on most all occasions. In the campaign 
of 1872 he was nominated and elected by a large majority of the voters an 
Associate Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, and 
served the full term of twelve years, with great acceptability to both 
litigants and attorneys. He wrote upwards of 300 opinions, which appear 
in volumes 10 to 31 inclusive of the State Reports. His opinions took a 
wide range, and are marked by profound learning. He aided in no small 
way in building up a system of jurisprudence in West Virginia, and lived 
to see our Supreme Court brought into prominence by text book writers 
and by the courts of last resort of other and older states. He set his face 
against fraud of all kinds, and did not fail to hit it wherever and whenever 
it raised its hydra head. In all of his opinons he sought to be just and 
fair to all litigants, and when parties came before him, and came with 
clean hands, they could rely implicitly on receiving a fair deal. No jurist 
ever left behind him a cleaner record. 

Judge Johnson was a man of very large stature, standing more than six 
feet and weighing more than 250 pounds. His voice was loud and sono- 
rous, so much so that an audience, however large, had no trouble in hearing 
all of his utterances. He was a life-long member of the Baptist Church, 
and was a leader in its ranks. He was often chosen to preside at the 
Associations and Councils of that denomination. 

After his retirement from the Bench of the Supreme°Court, January 1, 
1887, he located at Charleston and resumed the practice of his profession. 
The benefit of his long and severe training on the Bench showed itself in 
the number of important cases that came to him. However in June, 1895, 
the position of Dean in the Law Department of the West Virginia Uni- 
versity was created, and Judge Johnson was elected to fill it. He accepted 


JUDGE OKEY JOHNSON 


=] 
(0/2) 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


and moved his residence to Morgantown, the seat of the University, and 
assumed the role of a teacher, which he enjoyed, and to which he devoted 
his energies, his great learning and natural gifts to the end of his life, 
which occurred June 16, 1903. 

In early manhood Judge Johnson married the daughter of Hon. J. M. 
Stephenson, an eminent lawyer of the Parkersburg Bar, and some of his 
heirs survive him. 


_ Judge Warren Miller 


The subject of this sketch was born in Meigs .County, Ohio, and was 
educated in the public schools of his native State and the Ohio University 
at Athens, Uhio. Later he became a resident of Ripley, Jackson County, 
West Virginia, where he became a student of law, reading the legal text 
books systematically and thoughtfully. Being well educated and, therefore, 
possessing a trained mind, he was not long in acquiring a thorough knowl- 
edge of the fundamental principles of the great science of jurisprudence. 
After passing a creditable examination, he was admitted as a member of 
the Jackson County Bar, and began an active practice. He was studious 
and gave all of his time to his law office, and consequently was not long 
in building up a profitable clientele. In 1881 he was nominated by the 
Republican party as a candidate for Prosecuting Attorney of Jackson, 
County, and was elected thereto by the people. He discharged the duties 
of the office so ably and efficiently that four years later he was re-elected 
to a second term. He acquitted himself so creditably the people rallied 
to his support, and it was not long until he was recognized as probably 
the best and safest attorney of the Jackson County Bar. 

Like most young attorneys, he exhibited a taste for the school of politics, 
and was early quite active in that direction. In 1884 he was-sent as one 
of the Delegates at Large to the Republican National Convention ar 
Chicago. In 1891 he was elected a member of the lower house of the West 
Virginia Legislature, and proved to be a law maker of ability and dis- 
tinction. In 1894 he was elected a member of the Congress of the United 
States, and was re-elected two years later. In this high position he showed 
an aptitude for legislation and was an efficient member. In 1900 he was 
appointed a Circuit Judge by Governor G. W. Atkinson to fill a vacancy 
occasioned by the resignation of Judge Reese Blizzard. This position he 
filled satisfactorily and successfully. In 1903 he was appointed by Goy- 
ernor A. B. White to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court of Appeals of 
the State. In this high position, as in the nisi priws Court, he served ably 
and satisfactorily to attorneys and litigants. He is well grounded in the 
law, and possesses, in a large degree, the judicial temperament, conse- 
quently it was not a difficult matter for him to fill this Appellate Court 
position in a most satisfactory manner. In 1911 he was again elected to 
the lower branch of the West Virginia Legislature, and in 1914 he was 


JUDGE WARREN MILLER 


80 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


elected to membership in the State Senate. In these positions he proved 
to be an active, intelligent, safe and sane maker of State laws. 

He is a broad, thorough, conscientious lawyer, devoted to his profession 
in which he early took a leading place. As we have shown, he held many 
publie offices, in every one of which he did his duty well. As a Judge 
he was faithful, upright and absolutely incorruptible. He possesses a 
strong will, sound judgment, a rigid devotion to what he believes to be 
right, and an integrity of character that no one dares encroach upon. 

Moreover, he possesses unusual business ability. He invested wisely, 
and has accumulated a large estate, which includes two or three big farms 
on the Ohio River, to the cultivation of which, these later years, he 
devotes much of his time and careful attention. 

Judge Miller is a bachelor, and makes his home at a leading hotel at 
Ripley, the seat of justice of Jackson County, where he has a large fol- 
lowing of warm personal friends. He is but little taller than was the 
first Napoleon, but has a strong and well developed frame, and on the 
whole is rather a handsome man. 


Judge James F. Patton 


Judge Patton, son of Hon. John M. Patton, one of the leaders of the 
Bar of Virginia for many years, was born September 19, 1842, at Richmond, 
Virginia, and died at Wheeling, West Virginia, March 30, 1882. He was 
educated in the private schools of his native city, and in 1858 he was 
graduated from Hanover Academy, one of the then well known educational 
institutions of Virginia. In 1859 Mr. Patton, with his mother, moved to 
their country seat in Culpeper County, Virginia. When the Civil War 
broke out young Patton entered the Confederate Army, and remained 
therein until the close of hostilities. On several occasions he distinguished 
himself for bravery on the field of battle, for which he received promotion, 
he having entered the service as a private soldier. He promptly entered 
the law office of his brother-in-law, John Gilmer, of Pittsylvania County, 
and under his tutelage read law, and in due time passed the necessary 
examination and was admitted to the Bar of that county. He possessed 
a fertile brain, and it was not long until he was recognized as a lawyer of 
distinction. 

In April, 1869, he married the accomplished daughter of Hon. Allen T. 
Caperton, a Senator in Congress from West Virginia. Within a year after 
his marriage he became a partner of his distinguished father-in-law, who 
resided at Union, Monroe County, where he came rapidly into prominence 
as a lawyer and citizen. In 1872 he was nominated by the Democratic 
party as a candidate for Prosecuting Attorney of Monroe County, and was 
elected, which office he filled with marked ability for four years. He 
declined a renomination, finding it necessary to devote all of his time to 
his already large and growing practice. At the early age of 37 he was 


JUDGE JAMES FRENCH PATTON 


82 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


appointed, June 1, 1881, by Governor Jackson, to fill a vacaney on the 
Supreme Court of West Virginia, occasioned by the resignation of Judge 
C. P. T. Moore. He promptly entered upon the duties of that high judicial 
office. Being strong, both mentally and physically, he threw all of his 
energies into the discharge of his official duties. At the Spring term of 
the Court of 1882 he delivered four able opinions, when his life and his 
labors were at once ended by sudden death. In this brief period, however, 
he had won for himself the respect and esteem of his brethren of the 
Bench and Bar, as also the admiration, and affection of all the lawyers 
who had appeared before him. It was generally conceded that Judge 
Patton had before him a brilliant future. He was naturally kind and 
gentlemanly, and yet, at the same time, he was firm and unw‘vering. 
He possessed a well balanced judicial mind, and was both just and honor- 
able. He possessed not only the ability to discern the legal rights of a 
litigant, but he had the moral stamina, indispensable in an upright judge, 
to decide according to the law and the right against all influences of every 
kind whatever. His untimely death was universally mourned. His home- 
life was devotion personified, and every one who knew him personally was 
his friend. His sun set before it had even reached its noon. 


Judge John W. Mason 


The subject of this sketch will doubtless ever be known and remem- 
bered as one of the rugged and able lawyers and jurists of West Virginia. 
He was born on a farm in Monongalia County, Virginia, January 13, 1842, 
and departed this life in the adjoining county of Marion, April 23, 1917. 
Although his opportunities for schooling were somewhat meager, he was 
far from being uneducated. He attended the public schools of his neigh- 
borhood for a number of years, and later graduated from the Monongalia 
Academy at Morgantown, which subsequently became the foundation of 
the West Virginia University, in which, for a short time, he was a teacher. 
Being an earnest seeker for an education, he acquired, by the careful and 
systematic reading of good books, a varied and substantial learning, and 
thus became master of a clear, terse and vigorous style, both in writing 
and in speaking. 

He early decided upon the law as a profession, and began the reading 
of legal text books. However the Civil War came on, and at the age of 
seventeen he entered the military service of the United States as a private 
soldier, and after attaining the rank of a non-commissioned officer, and had 
engaged in a number of hotly contested battles, he returned to his native 
county, and took up the study of the law, which he earnestly pursued by 
reading the required text books, until he was able to pass the necessary 
examination as a licensed attorney in 1867. He often stated that his four 
years of army experience was most helpful to him in after years. He was 
a Republican, and for a time was quite active in the polities of the State 


JUDGE JOHN W. MASON 


84 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


and Nation, although he was never an office seeker. He was once nomt- 
nated for a seat in Congress, and was only defeated by ten votes. He was 
four years Chairman of the Republican State Executive Committee, and 
for twelve years he was a member of the National Executive Committee 
of that party. He was not only a good organizer, but ranked high as a 
platform speaker during political campaigns. But at no time did he allow 
politics to interfere with his large and ever increasing law practice, and 
repeatedly refused to accept nominations for Governor, Supreme Court 
Judge and Federal appointments. In 1889, he, however, accepted the posi- 
tion of Commissioner of Internal Revenue at Washington, D. C., which 
was tendered to him by President Harrison, and he filled that great office 
in a most acceptable manner for four years. 

For thirteen years he served as Circuit Court Judge of the Fourteenth 
Circuit, and it was universally conceded that he was one of the foremost 
judges in ability and acceptability in the entire State. Shortly after his 
voluntary retirement from the Bench he was made a member of the Virginia 
State Debt Commission, in which capacity he rendered invaluable service 
to the State. In the summer of 1915 a vacancy occurred on the Supreme 
Court of the State, and Judge Mason was appointed to that important 
office November Ist of that year to fill said vacancy, and until January 1, 
1917, he made the same high record as an Appellate Court Justice that he 
maintained as a nisi priuws judge. After leaving the Supreme Court Bench 
he retired to private life in his splendid home in the city of Fairmont. 

Judge Mason was happily married to Miss Rebecca E. Wallace, of Mor- 
gantown, in 1870, to them only one son was born, John William Mason, 
Jr., who is a young lawyer of great promise at Fairmont, and who, like his 
father, offered his services as a volunteer in defence of his country, and is 
now at the front in the terrible war now prevailing in Europe. 

Judge Mason was a Ruling Elder in the Presbyterian Church for many 
years prior to his death. He was also a member of the Masonic Fraternity, 
and he is remembered as an able lawyer, a just judge, a true and faithful 
husband and father, and a man whose life and character was enriched with 
noble qualities of head and heart. 


Judge Mathew Edmiston 


Judge Edmiston in his day was one of the ablest lawyers and jurists in 
the State of West Virginia. He was born in Little Levels, Pocahontas 
County, Virginia, September 9, 1814, and died at Weston, West Virginia, 
June 29, 1887. He was educated in the publie and private schools of the 
early part of the nineteenth century, and by the systematic reading of 
historical and biographical books that came within his reach. In this way, 
mainly, he stored his mind with information and facts which were valuable 
and helpful through a long, useful and successful professional life. He 
read law in the office of a friend and relative at Fincastle, Botetourt 


STON 


EDMI 


MATHEW 


JUDGE 


86 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


County, Virginia. He possessed an inquiring mind and a remarkably 
retentive memory, and was at all times able to use readily what he had 
read and digested. In less than a year’s study of legal text books he was 
able to pass a creditable examination, and was admitted to the Fincastle 
Bar in 1839. He returned to Pocahontas County that year, subsequently 
located permanently at Weston in Lewis County, where he remained as a 
lawyer and judge until his death. He and Judge George H. Lee, of Clarks- 
burg, formed a partnership in the practice, and maintained offices at 
Parkersburg, Clarksburg and Weston for upwards of ten years. Both of 
them being men of unusual ability they were not long in securing employ- 
ment in a large number of important causes in the towns named. Later 
both of them became Judges of the Supreme Court, and both of them 
were regarded eminent jurists. 

Judge Edmiston represented Lewis County in both branches of the 
Virginia Legislature prior to the Civil War. In 1852 he was appointed 
a Judge of the Circuit Court and served ably as such until 1860, when he 
returned to the regular practice at Weston. In 1886 he was appointed a 
Justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals of the State to fill the vacancy 
eaused by the death of Judge Hoffman, and served ably until his death, 
one year later. He exhibited marked ability as a judge as well as a 
eounselor. His opinions as an Appellate Judge are in the Ninth West 
Virginia Reports. His mind was bright and his analytical faculties were 
of a high order. He had an inate love for justice. His power of con- 
densation was conspicuous. His perception was keen and incisive. He 
was, while a practicing attorney, an illustrious advocate, who strove to do 
his full duty to his clients, and was a just, able and upright judge. His 
mind possessed sturdy characteristics. He was elected a member of the 
Constitutional Convention of 1872, but was physically unable to serve 
even a single day, and soon thereafter passed away forever. He said 
prior to his demise, that ‘‘ death had no sting for him, nor had the grave 
a victory.’’ 

Judge Edmiston married Miss Minerva Bland, of Weston, in February, 
1840. They had four sons and three daughters. Three of the sons were 
physicians and one son, Hon. Andrew Edmiston, mentioned elsewhere in 
this volume, is a successful lawyer at Weston. 

In his political convictions Judge Edmiston was a Democrat, as were 
all the members of his family. He was also a man of the highest order of 
integrity and personal character. 


Col. Alexander Monroe 


Col. Monroe, the Jeffersonian Democrat, who fairly presided over the 
House of Delegates of West Virginia in the session of 1875, is from Hamp- 
shire County, and was born December 29, 1817. At the early age of eigh- 
teen he was left an orphan, with four younger brothers and two sisters 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 87 


to rear and educate. He taught school in winter and worked on the farm 
in season to accomplish this. He read law with A. P. White at Romney; 
was admitted to the Bar in 1858, and was made Prosecuting Attorney of 
the county the next year. In 1861 he went into the Confederate service 
as Colonel of Militia, and held the oldest commission in the State. After 
the Conscript Bill passed he raised a battalion of cavalry and continued 
in service till Lee’s surrender. He was a member of the General Assembly 
of Virginia in 1849—’50, and from 1862 to 1865 serving in each session 
during the war, but returning after the Assembly adjourned to military 
duty. He was elected in 1872 to the Convention to revise the State Con- 
stitution of West Virginia, and in 1875 became a member of the House of 
Delegates from Hampshire County and therein was elected Speaker. He 
was also a member in 1879—’81—’82, serving upon the Revisory Committee 
to amend the Statutes in 1881. He was regarded as an able lawyer, who 
specialized in Land Law. 


Hon. Caleb Boggess 


The Judiciary of our State never lost a more honored or more honorable 
jurist, nor its Bar a more able attorney, than when Caleb Boggess died, 
April 14, 1889. Congestion of the lungs caused his sudden demise at his 
home in Clarksburg that night. One daughter, Genevieve, was all that 
was left to mourn her double bereavement—the mother preceding the 
father to a better rest only two months. 

Caleb, son of Caleb Boggess, was born April 29, 1822, in Lumberport, 
Harrison County, Virginia, where he resided in early life. His father came 
from Fredericktown, Maryland, to Monongalia County, Virginia, m 1800, 
and soon after settled in Harrison County. Young Caleb received all the 
advantages his father could secure for him in the common schools of that 
day, preparatory to entering him at the Virginia Military Institute at 
Lexington, whence he graduated in 1845, with honor and great promise. 
He studied law under Judge E. S. Duncan; was admitted to the Bar in 
1847 at Clarksburg, Virginia, and continued to practice law through life. 
For twenty years, up to the time of his death, he was chief counsel in this 
State for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company. His views made him 
averse to partisan office holding, only once allowing a departure, when he 
served his people in the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1861. 

In 1848 Mr. Boggess married Miss Eliza A., daughter of Judge G. D. 
Camden, and located for the practice of his profession in Weston shortly 
afterward. He soon took a leading position at the Bar. He was elected 
as a Union candidate to represent Lewis County in the Convention at Rich- 
mond, which passed the ordinance of secession, defeating Dr. Bland, who 
was the secession candidate. He served his constituents faithfully in thav 
Convention. He was one of the West Virginia delegates who returned 
home before the adjournment of the Convention. While at Richmond his 


88 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


residence in Weston was destroyed by fire. When the Convention adjourned 
he located at Clarksburg and resided there until his death. 

When Judge Lee died Mr. Boggess was retained as chief counsel for 
West Virginia for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, and was 
still so employed at the time of his decease. 

Mr. Boggess possessed a rare legal and mathematical mind. He took 
delight in investigating intricate legal questions, and when he undertook 
a case he always mastered it thoroughly. He hed a large practice in the 
Supreme Court of Appeals of the State, and argued a number of important 
cases in the Supreme Court of the United States. He was employed on 
one side or the other of most all of the leading cases in the Clarksburg 
Court for more than a quarter of a century prior to his death. 


Judge Joseph M. Sanders 


Our subject is a graduate of no college and, therefore, carries no 
scholastic degrees, but he is a graduate of that world wide school or 
experience and every day practice, and carries with him the diploma of 
success, and we may add, wonderful success, both as a lawyer and a 
jurist. He was born in Wythe County, Virginia, August 26, 1866, and is 
yet only in the prime of life, with the promise of greater results in the 
future. His parents moved to Tazewell County in 1870, where our subject 
attended the common schools as an earnest seeker after an education, 
which he knew well was essential to success in any calling in which he 
might engage for a life work in future years. In the meantime he was a 
careful reader of books, which, with his rudimentary studies that occupied 
his spare moments, furnished him a varied and substantial learning, ana 
in this way he became master of a clear, terse and vigorous style, both in 
writing and in speaking. Having decided in early life to become a lawyer, 
he early began the reading of legal text books, which oceupied every hour 
of time that he was able to devote to study and research until 1888, when 
he was only twenty-two years of age, he passed the required examination 
for an attorney-at-law, and was admitted to the Tazewell County Bar. 
Divining the rapid development of Southern West Virginia he chose Blue- 
field for a permanent residence, and there he began the practice of his 
profession. Devoting all of his energies and time to his business he soon 
developed into a successful practitioner. His legal attainments were so 
apparent and pronounced that in 1896 he was nominated by the Repub- 
licans for Judge of the Circuit Court of the Ninth Circuit and was elected 
by a large majority of the voters of the circuit. 

Judge Sanders served the full term of eight years with entire satis- 
faction to the Bar of the counties in the circuit. He was unanimously 
renominated and the Democrats agreed not to nominate an opponent, so 
that he would be accorded the compliment of a unanimous election. At 


JUDGE JOSEPH M. SANDERS 


90 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


the Republican State Convention of 1904, however, he received the nomi- 
nation for Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeals to succeed Judge 
Warren Miller, so he resigned the circuit judicial nomination and was 
elected a member of the highest court in the State. His service on the 
Appellate Court was most satisfactory, and his opinions were terse and 
able. He, however, preferred the practice at the Bar to the judiciary, and 
accordingly at the expiration of three yéars of active, successful service 
on the Supreme Court, tendered his resignation as a Judge and again 
resumed his membership of the Bar of Practitioners of Mercer County, 
where he resides and conducts a very profitable legal business. He has, 
therefore, shown himself twice to be not only an able and efficient Judge, 
but has twice proved himself to be a successful attorney in the courts 
of the State. 

Judge Sanders was in 1888 united in marriage with Miss Mamie Crockett, 
of Tazewell, Virginia, by whom he is rearing an interesting family in their 
home at Bluefield. A son, Joseph M., junior, is a student at the West 
Virginia University, who is following in the footsteps of his father, and 
later on expects to join him as the firm of Sanders and Sanders, attorneys- 
at-law, Bluefield, West Virginia. It is hoped that he may be equally suecess- 
ful in his chosen life work as his distinguished forebear. If he learns well 
in early life that there is always room at the top in all important under- 
takings, he will most surely reach the goal of his ambition. 

Judge Sanders, in 1916, was elected president of the West Virginia Bar 
Association, of which he has been for years past, an attentive and efficient 
member. He was elected a member of the State Senate in 1918. 


Judge Ira Ellsworth Robinson 


Judge Robinson descended from a family of pioneers who at an early 
period settled in the Tygart’s Valley portion of Western Virginia, and 
opened up and developed that rich and attractive stretch of country. His 
parents were William and Mary (Sayre) Robinson, whose home was in 
Taylor County, West Virginia, not far from Grafton, its seat of justice. 
There the distinguished son first saw the light, September 16, 1869. In 
youth he rendered industrious service on the farm, which is greatly to 
his credit. His early years were spent in the common schools of that 
section. Later he entered the State Normal School at Fairmont, where he 
received a thorough academic training, and graduated with honors in the 
class of 1889. Having made up his mind to pecome a lawyer, he at once 
entered upon preparation for the profession, and spared no pains to make 
his training thorough. In 1890 he was a student under the eminent John B. 
Minor at the University of Virginia. He was admitted to the Bar in 
1891 and promptly entered upon the practice, at Grafton, with that earnest- 
ness and vigor peculiar to his subsequent years of earnest, active service 


JUDGE IRA E. ROBINSON 


92 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


as a lawyer and a judge. From the very beginning he started in to win, 
and it cannot be questioned that he won out grandly. He was a student 
and an untiring worker, and never failed to go down to the bottom of all 
his important cases. These habits enabled him to forge to the front of the 
Bars in the counties where he engaged in the profession of a lawyer. 

Although he was never, per se, a politician, he, as a Republican, for four 
years held the office of Prosecuting Attorney of Taylor County, and was 
a good one. There was no compromise or half-way business in his make 
up; every violator had to come into court and answer. Not even a drop of 
timid or swash-buckler blood’ ever coursed through his veins. This is one 
of the main reasons why he steadily reached towards the top of his pro- 
fession with sure and steady steps. 

Later on he was chosen as a candidate for State Senator, was elected, 
and served with distinguished ability, satisfying his associates in the 
Senate, and the people at large, that he was an able legislator. His 
footprints are noticable in the legislation of that period. 

In October, 1907, one of the justices of the Supreme Court of Appeals ot 
West Virginia having retired, Judge Robinson was appointed to fill the 
vacancy, because of his marked qualities in the law and his possession of a 
singular judicial turn of mind. At the general election in 1908 he was 
elected by the people of the State to continue in the place to which he haa 
been appointed. Although only thirty-eight years of age when he assumea 
the Bench, he soon demonstrated the wisdom of the Governor in selecting 
him for that high honor. His first written opinion exemplified a correcy 
conception of justice, as well as a fine literary style. His rhetoric has not 
been surpassed by any of our justices in the history of the court. He 
developed an unconscious judicial fitness, and possessed the judicial tem- 
perament in a high degree, and was just and conscientious in all his judicial 
acts. His every act showed him to be incorruptible. In all relations, in 
his family-life, at the Bar, and in his friendships, he has been loyal and true. 

He is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and has 
twice been elected to its General Conference, in which great deliberative 
body he wielded large influence. He married Miss Ada Sinsel, of Grafton, 
in 1892, and to her he has always given credit for inspiration leading him 
to success. 

October 26, 1915, after eight years of devoted service on the Bench, 
Judge Robinson resigned his seat on the Supreme Court. In 1916 he was 
nominated by the Republican Party as its candidate for Governor of West 
Virginia, but in the November election of that year went down to defeat 
with the candidacy of another able man from the Bench, Mr. Justice 
Hughes. He immediately returned to his. profession and has exhibited 
again his old time qualities as a lawyer, matured by judicial experience. 

Judge Robinson is a real devotee of the law. He is a lecturer in the 
College of Law of the West Virginia University, lending great leadership 
to the young man in his preparation. He is widely known by his con- 
tributions to legal periodicals. 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 93 


Judge James H. Ferguson 


The subject of this brief memoir was born in Montgomery County, Vir- 
ginia, April 14, 1817; was entirely self-educated, and was self-made. He 
possessed a massive’ intellect, and was almost a giant in stature. By 
application and industry he became one of the great lawyers, jurists and 
legislators, the State of Virginia ever produced. He showed greatness in 
everything he undertook. He was learned in the law and towered above 
most men in knowledge as well as in physical stature. He left his impress 
upon the times in which he lived, and was recognized by the people who 
knew him personally as a man who possessed the elements of true greatness. 
He was regarded, not only as an erudite lawyer; but as a law-maker, in 
which, he had but few equals, and probably no superiors. He was admitted 
to the Bar in 1840, and settled in Logan County, now West Virginia, and 
in a very short period of time, became the leading lawyer of that entire 
section. In politics he was a Whig. He was elected Prosecuting Attorney 
of Logan County, which office he held and ably filled until 1848, when he 
was elected to the Virginia Legislature from the counties of Logan and 
Boone, and was re-elected to the same office each year until 1851. In 1850, 
he was elected a member of the Constitutional ‘Convention of Virginia of 
1850 and ’51, while he was a member of the Legislature of the State, and 
was one of the leaders of both bodies. He was formidable in all of the 
debates on all of the important questions that arose. He opposed everything 
that pointed toward a dissolution of the Union, and opposed the pernicious 
doctrine of secession from the commencement to the close of the Civil War. 

In 1864, he became a citizen of Cabell County, and in the Fall of that 
year he was elected a member of the Legislature of the new State of West 
Virginia, and was re-elected to the same position every year to and including 
1871. Im all of these bodies he was Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, 
and was the controlling factor in practically all of the legislation that 
was enacted at those several sessions. In 1868 he was chairman of the Joint 
Commission on the revision of the West Virginia Code. He did most of 
the work, and by direction of the Legislature prepared and indexed the 
Code of 1868 for publication. During the autumn of that year, he was 
elected Judge of the Cireuit Court of Cabell, Boone, Logan, Wayne and 
Lincoln Counties; and after about two years of pronouncedly able service 
on the Bench, he resigned, opened a law office in Charleston, became chiet 
counsel for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, where he remained until 
his death. He was elected to the Legislature from Kanawha County in 
1876. He was able in all branches of the law, but was perhaps strongest 
in land litigation. There were but few equals to him in all branches of 
the law pertaining to the adjustment of controverted land titles. He was 
also a specialist in corporation controversies. As a matter of fact, he was 
an all-around lawyer: and as a law maker, he had no superior in West 
Virginia. 


94 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


- 


He was twice married, and was a devout member of the Baptist Church. 
He died at his residence in Charleston at the advanced age of 86 years. 

At the close of the Civil War, Judge Ferguson identified himself with 
the Democratic Party, but never was a pronounced partisan. 


Judge John G. Jackson 


The Jackson family of West Virginia includes some of the most illustrious 
citizens the Commonwealth of Virginia, from its origin, has produced. 
Many of them were distinguished lawyers, several of them were able jurists, 
and one of them, Thomas J. (Stonewall), was one of the greatest military 
chieftains, the entire Republic has ever produced. 

The subject of this brief sketch was one of the very prominent lawyers 
and jurists of Western Virginia, for a great many years before the division 
of the State. He died in 1828, and we have found it difficult to collect but 
a few facts pertaining to his distinguished career. He was born in 
Harrison County, in 1774, and died, as we have stated, in 1828. He 
married Miss Payne, in the White House, in Washington, D. C., a sister of 
President James Madison’s wife. After her death, he married a daughter 
of the late Gen. Return Jonathan Meigs, who at that time was the first 
Governor of the Territory of Ohio. At the time of his second marriage 
Mr. Jackson was the Surveyor General of the United States under General 
Meigs for the State of Ohio. He was a member of Congress of the Wheeling 
District of Western Virginia from 1795 to 1797, and again from 1799 to 1810, 
and still again from 1813 to 1817. When the United States District Court 
for the Western District of Virginia was created in 1822, he was appointed 
its first Judge, and held that important office until the time of his death 
in 1828. It is claimed that he was a distinguished lawyer and a Judge 
of marked ability and fairness. He was a man of great force of character, 
and weilded a powerful political and social influence throughout the 
territory which comprises what is now the State of West Virginia. 

His polities was that of the Whigs. He erected what, at that time, was 
termed a fine frame residence in the town of Clarksburg, which was 
recently razed for the purpose of erecting a better and more modern build- 
ing. He has no immediate relative residing in that locality; hence our 
failure to furnish more details of his prominent career. 


General John Jay Jackson 


General Jackson was born in Wood County, Virginia, February 13, 1800, 
and for two or three years when a boy was tutored by Dr. David Creel in 
the rudimentary branches of education. At fourteen years of age he 
entered Washington College, Washington, Pennsylvania, and at the expira- 
tion of one year, he was appointed a cadet to West Point Military Academy. 


a Re ee Ae 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 95 


March 8, 1815. In less than four years, having completed the required 
course of study, he graduated high in his class July 24, 1818, in the nine- 
teenth year of his age. He served for about two years in the Seminole War 
in Florida in the Engineers Department. Later he was promoted to Adju- 
tant, and during 1821 and 1822, he served on the staff of Gen. Andrew 
Jackson in Alabama and Florida. In 1822, while on a furlough at his 
home in Parkersburg, he resigned from the United States Army and at 
once took up the study of law. Having a strong and thoroughly cultured 
mind, he made rapid headway, and the 28th of April, 1823, he became a 
member of the Wood County Bar. By studious application and force of 
character, he soon took position in the front rank of his profession, and 
was recognized as one of the leading lawyers of the Commonwealth, which 
position he successfully maintained through his long and useful life. 

In 1826 he became Prosecuting Attorney of Wood County, which office 
he held until 1852. He also filled the same office in the adjoining County 
of Ritchie from 1842 to 1852. It is said of him that he was a terror to the 
wicked ones in those counties. He guarded well the interests of those 
counties and the State, whose official he was, with the utmost care. He was 
a Whig in politics, and was elected to the Legislature of Virginia, several 
times, his first term being in 1825 and his last in 1844. Here, too, he 
displayed his accustomed energy, and showed himself to be a wise and 
disereet legislator. 

In 1842 he was elected by the Legislature, General of the Twenty-third 
Brigade of the militia of Virginia, and remained such until 1861, when 
the State seceded from the Union, and the peaceful avocations of the 
people were changed for the active duties of tent and field, in our late 
and deplorable fratricidal war. General Jackson was a member of the 
historic Convention of 1861 held at Richmond, and ably and earnestly 
opposed the heresy of secession. He stood firmly by the Union then and 
throughout the Civil War. 

General Jackson was not only at the forefront as a lawyer, but was a 
leader also in the civic development of the section of the State in which 
he resided, and was easily its foremost citizen for a-half century or more. 
He was a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church. After the close of 
the Civil War, he identified himself with the Democratic Party, and remained 
an adherent of the same until his death, which occurred at his home in 
Parkersburg, January 1, 1877. He was twice married, and left several 
children by both unions, three of his sons, by his first wife, became eminent 
lawyers, sketches of each of them appear elsewhere in this volume. 

General Jackson’s fame rests upon his legal ability and erudition, his 
patriotic and wise deeds and counsel, his benevolent and Christian career, 
and his illustrious example of fortitude, integrity, industry and success 


_ in all of his laudable undertakings. 


96 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Judge John Jay Jackson 


Judge Jackson was the eldest son of the late Gen. John Jay Jackson, 
of Parkersburg, West Virginia. He is a native of Parkersburg, Virginia, as 
was his father, and was born August 4, 1824. He was educated at private 
schools and at Princeton University, graduating in the class of 1845; 
studied law under the direction of his father, whose personal sketch appears 
in this volume, and also under Judge John J. Allen, a member of the 
Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia; was admitted to the Wood County, 
Virginia Bar in 1846, and practiced successfully until he was appointed, 
in August, 1861, Judge of the United States District Court for the Western 
District of Virginia, which office he held and ably filled for the unprece- 
dented period of forty-three years. During the rebellion he opposed the 
fallacy of secession, and stood out boldly for the perpetuation of the 
Union. On this great question he never wavered. Before his appointment 
as Federal Judge, he was a remarkably successful lawyer. He was a natural 
orator, and hence was an able advocate. He served several terms as 
Prosecuting Attorney of Wirt and Ritchie Counties, and was an unusually 
successful prosecutor. Law breakers dreaded to come before him, because 
they knew that he was able, firm and courageous, and had no sympathy for 
law-breakers of any kind. 

Like his eminent father, he was an ardent supporter of the Whig party, 
but became an Independent Democrat after the Civil War, yet at no time 
was he a partisan. His strong mind, was at all times, given over to settle- 
ments and dispositions of the many towering law problems that were 
brought almost continuously before him on subjects which grew out of the 
Civil War. 

During his lengthy service on the Bench he had to consider and decide 
some of the most important legal questions that have ever been brought 
before the courts of any country. He was required to pass upon abstruse 
and difficult law and chancery suits, involving land titles, bankrupt cases, 
admiralty causes, corporation cases and criminal cases, of all varieties. His 
decisioins in most cases, when appealed, have generally been affirmed by 
the Appellate Courts. He was noted for firmness in his make up, and when 
convinced that he was right, he was as unchangeable as the sun. For many 
years, he was called the ‘‘ Iron Judge.’’ He was emphatic in his rulings, 
and many lawyers and litigants regarded him as austere. This was not 
true. Naturally he was as kind, gentle and sympathetic as a woman. The 
writer knew him intimately and well, and can testify to his sympathetic 
and unusually gentle nature. He was generous even to a fault, and often 
showed it in a large degree, when compelled to sentence men to peniten- 
tiaries, thus causing pain and breaking up of homes and destroying the 
pleasures of home-life. He wore the judicial ermine longer than any 
other judge of any court in both Virginia’s, and wore it honorably, ably 
and well. He was an erudite lawyer, and an honest and upright judge. 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 97 


We failed to note that he was a member of the Virginia Legislature in 
1852, and was re-elected in 1853. He took an active part in the discussions 
of questions of internal improvements, and the questions growing out 
of the basis of representation. He was a Whig elector in the campaigns of 
1852, ’56 and ’60, and made a reputation as a powerful stump speaker. 
He was a member of the Episcopal Church; was married; had a son and 
a daughter; kept up a beautiful home in the city of Parkersburg, and 
departed this life shortly after retiring from the Bench, after serving 
upwards of forty-three years. He was 83 at the time of his death. 


Judge James Monroe Jackson 


James Monroe Jackson was born in Parkersburg, Virginia, December 3, 
1825. He had a careful preparation for college, and in early life entered 
that celebrated institution of learning, Princeton College, from which he 
graduated in his twentieth year. Like his father, elder and younger brother, 
he chose the profession of law, and after two years study, under the 
direction of his father, was admitted to the Wood County Bar in 1847. By 
his natural talents and constant application, he rose rapidly to an enviable 
position in his profession. In May, 1856, he was elected prosecuting attorney 
of Wood County, and was re-elected at the close of his term. He was 
elected to and served as a member of the House of Delegates of West 
Virginia in 1870, in the proceedings of which body he took an active and 
a leading part. He was re-elected, and served in the legislative session 
of 1871, after the removal of the State capital to Charleston. He was a 
member of the Convention that sat at Charleston in 1872 and framed the 
second Constitution for the State of West Virginia. Being an able lawyer, 
he was a valuable member of that distinguished assembly. In October, 
1872, he was elected to the office of Judge of the Fifth Judicial Circuit, in 
which he served, for the term of eight years, and was re-elected to the 
same position in 1880. His careful legal training, coupled with his strong 
common sense, fitted him for the judicial office, and it was not long after 
his first election until he made for himself the reputation of being among 
the very best judges in the State, and accordingly gave satisfaction to all 
with whom he had official dealings. 

Though not per se a politician, yet at times he took a lively interest in 
public affairs. On many occasions he was urged to become a candidate for 
political preferment, notably for Congress; and in 1888 he was nominated 
by the Democratic Party — with which he had acted since the death of the 
old Whig organization—for a seat in the Fifty-first Congress. The 
campaign of that year was a spirited one, and the result in all of the four 
districts of the State was so close that it took the official vote to decide 
who had been victorious. Judge Jackson was awarded the certificate of 
election, but his seat was contested by his competitor, the Hon. Charles B. 
Smith, who was given the seat by Congress. 


+ 


98 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Judge Jackson was a man of scholarly attainments which specially 
equipped him for public service. 

He was originally an ‘‘ Old Line Whig,’’ but became a Democrat at the 
beginning of the Civil War. He was twice married. 

He closed his career by serving two terms as Criminal Judge of Wood 
County, and departed this life at his home in the city of Parkersburg when 
nearly eighty years of age. 


Samuel Sprigg 


One of the most brilliant lawyers who practiced at the Ohio County Bar 
for many years, and who is still often referred to by the older citizens of 
the city of Wheeling, is the subject of this brief sketch. He was admitted 
to the practice early in 1800. We fail to find anything of his early history, 
-such as the date of his birth and where born, his educational advantages, 
etc. He was appointed attorney for the Commonwealth in 1814, and 
remained in that office for nearly sixteen years, which proves that he 
was an efficient prosecutor, and performed his official duties satisfactorily 
to the people of Ohio County. Sixteen years is almost an unprecedented 
period for an attorney to continuously fill an office of that character; and 
to do so, is evidence of a high grade of ability and integrity. His profes- 
sional career was one of unusual activity and brillianey, his name appearing 
more frequently on the dockets of the courts than that of any of his 
contemporaries, perhaps barring one —that of Zachariah Jacob, and there 
is some doubt among the older members of the profession at Wheeling as 
to the correctnes of that statement. There is no doubt, however, that 
they were the acknowledged leaders of the Wheeling Bar, when they were 
in their prime. Both of them were learned lawyers, but were different 
types of men. Mr. Sprigg was the more brilliant, and showed to a better 
advantage in a court house trial of an important cause, whilst the other, 
perhaps, was more of the calmer sort, and prepared his cases with more 
deliberation, and would, probably, win more cases at the round up. Any 
way, it is generally conceded that they were the ‘‘ top-notchers ’’ of the 
Wheeling Bar in their day and generation. 

Probably, no better estimate of Mr. Sprigg’s professional character and 
ability can be obtained at this time, than that found in the record of a 
meeting of the Wheeling Bar at the time of his death, which occurred in 
1843. At that meeting Zachariah Jacob presided. The following testimonal 
was presented by General James 8S. Wheat, who was also a lawyer of 
prominence: ‘‘Death has come among us and has stricken down our 
brightest ornament, Samuel Sprigg. While we bow with submission to 
the force that has terminated a life of honor and usefulness, we would with 
fond regret dwell upon his virtues and remember his merits. With talents 
peculiarly adapted to his profession, exalted and strengthened by an ardent 
temperament and generous ambition, he was an advocate of unrivaled favor, 
whenever the oppressed needed vindication and support, or the vicious 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia I) 


exposure or punishment. He gained the highest honors of his profession 
and wore them with the modesty peculiar to his merit. A long and intimate 
association with him left upon our memory nothing to lessen our admiration 
and affectionate regard. As a man we all loved him, as a citizen he was 
the able and untiring advocate of every public interest.’’ 


Col. Benjamin Harrison Smith, A.M. 


The subject of this brief memoir, for more than a half century was one 
of the ablest of all the prominent lawyers of the Kanawha Bar. He was 
born in Rockingham County, Virginia, October 31, 1797, and died at 
Charleston, West Virginia, December 10, 1887. In 1810 his father sold his 
Virginia possessions and moved to Fairfield County, Ohio, where our 
subject grew to manhood. He attended the public schools, and was gradu- 
ated from the Ohio University, at Athens, in 1819, with the classical degree 
of Bachelor of Arts. He studied law in the office of the Hon. Thomas 
Ewing, senior, one of Ohio’s most distinguished lawyers, and was admitted 
to practice in the Ohio courts in 1821. He had a longing for the hills of 
his nativity, and he came to Kanawha the next year and located permanently 
at Charleston, and there spent the remainder of his long and useful life in 
a most active and successful practice of his profession. He was learned 
in every branch of the law, and was a student and a worker. He was 
a student especially of the Virginia land laws, and did, perhaps, more than 
any other man to make land titles more certain and less complicated. He 
was, therefore, classed, for more than a generation, West Virginia’s fore- 
most land lawyer. He was tall, massive in build and courteous in manner, 
not eloquent or polished, but able, massive, powerful, irresistible. 

He was a Whig in politics until after the close of the Civil War, when he 
became a Democrat. He, however, was an uncompromising Union man 
throughout the war. In 1833 he was elected a member of the Virginia 
Senate, and served as such for six years. In 1849 he was appointed United 
States District Attorney for the Western District of Virginia, which office 
he held for four years. He represented Kanawha County in the General 
Assembly of Virginia in 1855; he had been an active member of the 
Convention of 1850, which framed a new Constitution for the State. In 
1861 President Lincoln appointed him United States District Attorney for 
the Western District of Virginia, in which office he served under the old 
and new State until 1868, when he resigned. He was also a member of the 
Convention that framed the first Constitution of West Virginia. He was 
the Democratic candidate for Governor of West Virginia in 1866, but was 
defeated by Governor Arthur I. Boreman, and in 1870 he represented 
Kanawha County in the Legislature of West Virginia. 

Colonel Smith never connected himself with any Church, but always 
claimed to be a Methodist in principle and doctrine. His family, however, 
were Presbyterians. He reared a large family, and several of his descend- 
ents are still residents of the city of Charleston. His son, Isaac Noyes 


100 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Smith, deceased, was a prominent attorney for many years, and his grand- 
son, Harrison Brooks Smith, is at this time, one of the successful members 
of the Charleston Bar. 

Colonel Smith was strictly honorable in all his dealings, and wielded 
an almost unlimited influence over the citizens of the Great Kanawha 
Valley, where he was known and highly honored. 


Hon. Benjamin Wilson 


Mr. Wilson was born in Harrison County, Virginia, April 30, 1825; edu- 
cated at the Northwestern Academy, at Clarksburg; attended law school 
at Staunton, Virginia; was admitted to the Bar in 1848; served as Common- 
wealth’s Attorney for Harrison County from 1852 to 1860; member of the 
Constitutional Convention of Virginia in 1861; was Presidential Elector-at- 
Large on the Democratic ticket of 1868; a member of the West Virginia 
Constitutional Convention that met at Charleston in 1872; was made a 
delegate-at-large to the National Democratic Convention at Baltimore in 
1872 that nominated Horace Greeley for President; elected as Representa- 
tive to the Forty-fourth Congress from the First Congressional District; 
re-elected to the Forty-fifth Congress, serving from December 4, 1875; was 
again re-elected to Congress in 1880, defeating John A. Hutchinson, the 
Republican candidate; was appointed Assistant United States Attorney 
in the Department of Justice at Washington by Grover Cleveland till 
superseded in 1889. 

Colonel Wilson served his constituents in Congress in a most efficient 
manner. He was constantly at his post of duty, and was attentive, courteous 
and polite to all with whom he came in contact in the discharge of his 
publie and private duties as a citizen and Representative. He was a 
lawyer of high grade, and was a man of unusual popularity. He was in 
the employment of the Government at Washington in settling the French 
Spoliation Claims when stricken with a fatal illness. He died at the ripe 
old age of a little more than eighty years. 


Judge Homer A. Holt 


Judge Holt, son of Jonathan and Eliza (Wilson) Holt, was born at 
Parkersburg, Virginia, April 27, 1831. His ancestors came from England 
in Colonial days, and settled near Norfolk, Virginia, where his grand- 
father, John Holt, was born, and who later moved to and settled in the 
Monongahela Valley. Our subject was educated in the select and private 
schools of that period. Later he was, in 1850 and ’51, a student at the 
University of Virginia. The method of instruction given at that great 
institution, is by different schools, a diploma being issued in each depart- 
ment. During the first year Mr. Holt received diplomas in five different 


JUDGE HOMER A. HOLT 


102 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


schools, and at the end of the second year he passed the required examina- 
tions in four other different schools, thus making a record that but few, if 
any, have équaled or surpassed. After leaving this historic school of 
learning, he taught school two years, and then read law in the office of 
his brother-in-law, the late Hon. Benjamin W. Byrne, at Sutton, in 
Braxton County, after which he was admitted to the Braxton County Bar, 
in which, and the adjoining counties, he practiced successfully for a number 
of years. ; 

When the war between the States came on in 1861 Mr. Holt went with 
the South, and in 1862 was captured by the Federals and was confined in 
Camp Chase, at Columbus, Ohio, where he remained for about a year. 
After his liberation he joined Gen. Albert G. Jenkins’ Cavalry Brigade, 
at Salem, Virginia. Subsequently he was transferred to General McCaus- 
land’s command, where he served until the close of the war. 

He was a man of medium height, his head was large with prominent fore- 
head, and he was of a studious and thoughtful turn of mind. Both the 
imaginative and practical elements predominated in his character; from 
the one he was able to foresee the future material development of the 
natural resources of the State, and by the reason of the other, he invested 
extensively in the then cheap mineral and timber lands, from which he 
subsequently acquired a considerable estate. He was, therefore, not only 
an able lawyer, but he was a successful business man as well. 

He had but few equals as a trial lawyer in the entire State. His 
thorough knowledge of the law, coupled with his untiring industry peculiar 
to him from his school days to the time of his death, made him a dangerous 
adversary in the trial of a lawsuit. It is said of him that even in the 
1ater years of his life he kept up his academic studies, in which he was, at 
all times proficient. He delved deeply into Latin, French, history and 
mathematics. During his one year’s imprisonment at Camp Chase he 
utilized practically all of his time reviewing his school text books. One 
of his prison associates was a Frenchman, from whom he learned the 
French language so he could speak and read it fluently and correctly. In 
this way he relieved himself almost entirely of the monotony of his prison 
lite. 

He was a Democrat, and took rather a lively interest in politics. He 
was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1871-2, and discharged 
his duties with fidelity and marked ability. He served sixteen years as a 
Circuit Judge in two separate circuits of the State, satisfying, in a marked 
degree, both suitors and lawyers. November 8, 1890, he was appointed one 
of the Judges of the Supreme Court of the State for the unexpired term 
of Judge A. C. Snyder, resigned, and in 1892 he was elected by the people 
to said positiion, making six years that he served upon said court. 

As a judge he ranked among the best of his day. He possessed a mind 
of unusual grasp and accuracy, and a heart capable of the tenderest 
sympathies and affections. In private life he was pure and without a stain. 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 103 


As a Judge he was honorable, upright and just, and was a devoted husband 
and father. No higher encomium could be passed upon any public man. 

At Sutton, Braxton County, January 27, 1857, he married Miss Mary A., 
daughter of Mr. John Byrne. Their son, the Hon. John H. Holt, of Hunt- 
ington, is one of the most distinguished lawyers the State of West 
Virginia has ever produced. The father was a great man, but the son 
was still greater. This, however, is only as it should be, as the son has the 
advantage of standing on the shoulders of the father, and necessarily 
should be able to see farther in the future, if he properly applies himself, 
which he has done most successfully. 

In 1874, Judge Holt removed to Lewisburg, Greenbrier County, to give 
his attention to his large land holdings in that section of the State, and 
on January 7, 1898, he surrendered his trusts after a long, honorable, well 
spent life. 


Hon. William H. Travers 


The subject of this brief memoir was one of the very able lawyers of 
the ‘‘Eastern Pan Handle’’ of this State, and stood at the head of the 
West Virginia Bar for a generation or more. He was born in Dorchester 
County, Maryland, November 2, 1833, and was educated at St. Mary’s 
College, Baltimore, from which he graduated in 1848. He studied law and 
was admitted to practice in that city in 1851. He settled permanently at 
Charlestown, Jefferson County, Virginia, when a young man, and began the 
practice of his profession. Being a man of far more than ordinary ability 
and attainments, he was not long in taking a leading rank at the Jefferson 
County Bar, and in building up a very profitable clientele, which continued 
to inerease up to the period of his final illness and demise. 

Mr. Travers was always a Democrat, but was in no sense a politician; 
nevertheless he was elected a member of the House of Delegates of Vir- 
ginia from his adopted county of Jefferson in 1856-7, and was chosen 
Speaker of that distinguished body, in which he served with ability and 
fairness, and with honor to his State and her citizens. In 1872 he was 
elected to membership in the Constitutional Convention which framed the 
Constitution of West Virginia and ranked among the ablest members of 
that distinguished body of statesmen. In that Convention he was Chairman 
of the Finance, Education and Corporation Committees. He was a Presi- 
dential Elector at large from West Virginia in the campaigns of 1876 and 
1888. 

Mr. Travers faithfully and ably served the people of his adopted State 
in all of the public positions to which the people elected him. He was a 
learned lawyer and was thoroughly upright, and commanded the confidence 
and respect of all the people who had the honor of his acquaintance. When 
he surrendered his trust the people universally mourned his loss. He was 
truly a representative citizen and lawyer of pronounced ability and success. 


104 Bench and Bar of West Virgina 


Judge Thayer Melvin 


There have been, and are yet, natural lawyers and jurists as there are 
natural musicians and natural artists. Judge Melvin was a natural born 
jurist. He was born at Fairview, Hancock County, Virginia, in 1837, and 
received a fair English education in the common and high schools of his 
native and adjoining counties to begin with, and later by study and careful 
reading of good books he became a really accomplished scholar and litter- 
ateur, and a man of broad and general knowledge. 

At the age of seventeen years he began the systematic study of the law 
in his home town, which was the seat of justice of the county at that time, 
and was furnished books and was counseled by the lawyers of the town. 
He had a strong, clear mind, and was remarkably industrious. Later he 
went to New Lisbon, Ohio, where he remained for something like a year, 
and was tutored by a friend who took a special interest in his advance- 
ment, so that in 1853, at the age of eighteen, he passed the required 
examination, and was admitted to the Bar of Hancock County. During 
his minority, in 1855, he was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Hancock 
County. Our present statute prohibits one from receiving license as an 
attorney at law until he is twenty-one years of age, and it is also mandatory 
that no man is eligible to hold an office of any kind until he is full twenty- 
one. We believe these prohibitions existed at that time. If they did it is 
apparent that no one paid any attention to them, and consequently Judge 
Melvin was allowed to begin, what turned out to be, a distinguished pro- 
fessional career at least three years ahead of time. Any way ‘‘ he made 
good,’’ but it could not be ‘‘ put over ’’ in these times. In 1856 and in 
1860 he was elected and re-elected to the same offie, notwithstanding the 
fact that in 1857 he had moved his residence to Wheeling, Ohio County, 
where he had associated himself in the practice of the law with Joseph H. 
Pendleton, a prominent lawyer of that period. 

The Civil War came on about this time and young Melvin promptly 
volunteered to defend the flag as a private soldier in Company F, Ist 
Regiment, West Virginia Volunteer Infantry. In a very short time he was 
commissioned an Assistant Adjutant-General of Volunteers, and served in 
that capacity until the close of the war, when he was honorably discharged. 
He located in Wellsburg, Brooke County, and resumed the practice of his 
profession. In 1866 he was again elected Prosecuting Attorney of Hancock 
County. He was Attorney-General of West Virginia from January 1, 
1867, to July 1, 1869, when he resigned to accept the office of Cireuit Judge 
of the First Judicial District of the State, to which he had been appointed 
by the Governor to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Judge EH. H. 
Caldwell. This was the beginning of the career of one ot the ablest and 
most upright Judges the State of West Virginia has ever produced. Tiring 
of the ‘‘ wool sack,’’? however, he resigned from the Bench after serving 
ably for years, in November, 1881, and returned to the practice in the City 


JUDGE THAYER MELVIN 


106 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


of Wheeling until the death of Judge Joseph R. Paull, when he was 
appointed by Governor Atkinson to fill the unexpired term of the deceased 
Judge. When his term expired he was elected for another term of eight 
years without opposition, and died from apoplexy before the term 
expired. He was a Whig prior to the Civil War, but after the ‘‘ cruel war 
was over ’’ he became a Republican, and remained such until his death, 
but was never a strenuous partisan. In the discharge of his judicial duties 
he knew no party or creed. He sought only to be just and fair, and rarely, 
if ever, failed in deciding right. It was a rare occurrence for one of his 
decisions to be reversed by the Appellate Court. Furthermore he was one 
of the most courteous, urbane of men, and was at all times absolutely 
honest and sincere. He died in the City of Wheeling where he had spent 
the greater part of a long and useful life, mourned by all the people who 
admired his manly and noble character. 
He never married. 


Hon. William E. Chilton 


Hon. William E. Chilton was born in St. Albans, Virginia, March 17, 
1858. He received his education in the public schools and at Shelton 
College, in his native town. He studied law while engaged in teaching 
common schools in Kanawha and Lincoln Counties, and had no trouble in~ 
passing the required examination for admission to the Kanawha County 
Bar very soon after arriving at his majority. Shortly thereafter he formed 
a partnership with the late United States Senator John E. Kenna, which 
continued until the death of the latter in 1893. From the very beginning 
he showed a natural aptitude for the legal profession, and not long after 
being licensed as an attorney he began to attract the attention of the 
leading members of the Kanawha Bar, which then, as now, was one of the 
ablest bodies of lawyers in the State. Indeed it was not long until he 
himself was classed among the best of them, which position he still main- 
tains. He was a member of the well known firm of Chilton, MacCorkle 
and Chilton, of Charleston, the other members of the firm being his senior 
brother, Major Joseph HE. Chilton, and Ex-Governor William A. MaeCorkle. 
Their business is so extensive that the firm includes also Mr. T. S. Clark 
and William G. MacCorkle. 

He withdrew from this firm, however, in 1918, and is conducting a busi- 
ness on his own account in large and important cases only. 

Among West Virginia’s native sons now living the most commanding 
figure, from a national point of view, is the subject of this sketch. Going 
to the United States Senate at a time when many momentous questions 
were at issue in Congress, he at once took his place among the leaders on 
the Democratic side, and his voice was potent and his influence great 
in their consideration and disposition. The reasons for this are plain. 
He carried to the Senate a mind naturally strongly analytical, well versed 


HON. WILLIAM E. CHILTON 


108 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


in the law and thoroughly trained by hard study and deep thought to 
engage in the solution of big problems, coupled with a strong natural bent 
for political affairs and an unconquerable ambition to succeed in all his 
undertakings, it was no wonder that he took high rank in that most 
exalted deliberative body of statesmen in the civilized world. He was 
Vice Chairman of the Democratic Caucus of the Senate (his political party 
being in the majority), and being second on the Judiciary Committee, and 
inasmuch as the Floor Leader or Caucus Chairman was in extremely poor 
health and the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee was in ill health 
also, Senator Chilton, who was nearly always present when the Senate was 
in session, necessarily became his party leader of the body. Being quick 
of perception, an able speaker, affable and courteous, he was looked to as 
the main man of the Senate, and was pushed to the front as its active 
leader, and in reality, perhaps, as its most influential member. The writer 
hereof was a resident of Washington during Senator Chilton’s Senatorial 
term and, therefore, knows whereof he speaks, and it is only fair that this 
statement should be here made a matter of public record. He was also an 
efficient member of several other important Senate Committees and. was a 
regular attendant upon all of them. These facts, among others that could 
be mentioned, show why Senator Chilton’s Senatorial career was among 
the most conspicuous perhaps, of any of his predecessors in that delegated 
body of statesmen and patriots. 

Mr. Chilton was Prosecuting Attorney of Kanawha County for the period 
of about two years; was a candidate for State Senate in 1884, but was 
defeated, and was Secretary of State for the term of four years. He has 
a wife and four children and occupies a charming home at the capital of 
the State. 


Hon. William L. Wilson, LL.B., LL.D. 


Our subject was one of the illustrious sons of West Virginia. He was a 
lawyer, a scholar, an educator, a statesman and an ideal, honored citizen 
of the Commonwealth. He was born in Jefferson County, Virginia, May 3, 
1843, and was primarily educated at the Charlestown Academy, where he 
was noted for his quick mind and studious habits. At the age of fifteen 
he had read more Latin, Greek and French than is required of college 
graduates, although mathematics was his favorite study. He then entered 
the junior class of Columbian University at Washington, D. C., and gradu- 
ated in 1860 at the age of seventeen. From there he entered the University 
of Virginia, but on account of the breaking out of the Civil War he 
remained but a short time, and entered the Confederate Army as a private 
soldier, and remained until its close, retiring with the rank of sergeant- 
major. 

In June, 1865, he was made Assistant Professor of Ancient Languages 
in the faculty of his Alma Mater (Columbian University), and while thus 
engaged he took the required course of study in the Law Department, and 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 109 


graduated cum laude in the class of 1867. He was promoted to a full 
professorship of the Latin Language and Literature, and remained in that 
position until 1871, when he resigned and began the practice of law at 
Charlestown, West Virginia, as junior partner in the firm of Baylor and 
Wilson, and had almost from the start a full practice, being not only 
prominent as an advocate, but also largely entrusted with chancery busi- 
ness. After an active and successful practice of eleven years, in June, 
1882, he was chosen by unanimous vote of the Regents as President of the 
West Virginia University, which he reluctantly accepted, entering upon 
his duties September 20 of that year. In the fall of the same year he was 
nominated and was elected a member of the American Congress, and was 
thereafter three times re-elected to the same position. He served as Presi- 
dent of the State University until the end of the college year of 1883 
without salary, when he resigned. During that short period he won great 
popularity at the State University. 

From the beginning of his term in Congress he stepped to the front rank 
as a legislator, and was placed on the Ways and Means Committee, and 
was the principal framer and patron of what was known as the Wilson 
Tariff Bill of that session of Congress. At the next election he was 
defeated for the fifth term to which he had been renominated. 

As a lawyer he ranked high. He was not only versed in legal principles, 
but he had the ability to present them effectively. As a public speaker 
and representative he joined the wisdom of the schools to practical experi- 
ence, and ably carried out the courage of his convictions. As well as a 
pleasant public speaker he was a fluent and classic writer. Under Presi- 
dent Cleveland’s second administration he ably filled the position of Post- 
master-General in his Cabinet. At the close of his term in that exalted 
position he was elected President of Washington and Lee University, of 
Virginia, in which position he was succeeding grandly when his health 
gave way, and he departed this life in the midst of his usefulness while yet 
a comparatively young man. He was truly a great and good man. He 
was naturally genial, kindly and courteous. 


Professor William P. Willey, M.A. 


One of the ‘‘ land marks ’’ in the Law Department of the West Virginia 
University at Morgantown is the subject of this sketch. He is known to 
the older members of the Bar as a practitioner of the law when he was a 
young man, and to many of the younger members of the profession in the 
State as their teacher, running back for more than thirty years. He is 
also personally known to the members of the State Bar Association as one 
of its founders and ore cf its Presidents and as editor of its monthly pub- 
lication called ‘‘ The Bar’’ for nearly a generation, which he recently 
abandoned and turned over to younger hands. He is the son of the late 
United States Senator Waitman T. Willey, who was a distinguished lawyer 
and statesman in the early history of this Commonwealth. 


110 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Professor Willey was born at Morgantown, Virginia, in May, 1840, and 
had the advantages in his boyhood of the excellent schools in that section. 
When a young man he entered Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, 
ana graduated in the classical course of study in the class of 1862. He 
read law under the direction of his father and was admitted to the Mor- 
gantown Bar in 1864. In 1866 he was elected Prosecuting Attorney of his 
native county and discharged his official duties with great acceptability. 
In 1868 he was nominated as the Democratic candidate for Attorney- 
General of the State, but was defeated. He located in the City of Balti- 
more in 1873, where he remained for five years in general practice, and 
was succeeding admirably. 

He, however, had a liking for politics, and was induced in 1878 to move 
to Wheeling in his native State and become editor-in-chief of the Wheeling 
Daily Register, the leading Democratic newspaper of West Virginia. With 
industry, tact and ability he conducted the editorial interests of that 
paper until 1883, when he was elected to membership in the Law Faculty 
of the State University at Morgantown, where he remained until about 
two years ago when, on account of impaired health, he retired from active 
work, and is living in quietude in the City of Morgantown, where he was 
born over three-quarters of a century ago. 

Professor Willey is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and 
his life has been an example of wisdom, learning, integrity and fidelity to 
principle and an unsullied conscience. He married Miss Lida Allen, of 
Morgantown, a daughter of Guy R. C. Allen, a distinguished lawyer of 
that town. They reared a family of worthy children, who are mostly resi- 
dents of the State. Mrs. Willey died a few years ago. 


Hon. Benjamin Franklin Keller, B.S., LL.B., LL.D. 


Judge Benjamin F. Keller, son of Henry and Margaret Keller, was born 
at Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, April 21, 1857, and graduated from Pennsyl- 
vania State College in the class of 1876 with the degree of Bachelor of 
Science. He taught school for three years; decided to become a lawyer; 
accepted a clerical position in the Interior Department at the City of 
Washington for a short time; took the course of study prescribed in the 
Law Department of Columbian University, now George Washington Uni- 
versity of that city, and graduated in the class of 1882 and was given the 
degree of Bachelor of Laws. He came to West Virginia in 1891; settled 
at Bramwell, Mercer County; opened a law office in conjunction with the 
late Judge Henrietze, under the firm name of Henrietze and Keller. Both 
of them being good lawyers, their business was prosperous. Later Judge 
Keller became a member of the extensive law firm of Rucker, Keller and 
Hamill, with their principal office in Welch in the adjoining county of 
McDowell, where he remained in the active practice until he was appointed 
Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of 


JUDGE BENJ’N F. KELLER 


112 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


= 


West Virginia in April, 1901, wherein since that time he has been ably and 
faithfully serving. His residence is at Charleston, the capital of West 
Virginia. 

Judge Keller’s career has been able and exemplary, both as an attorney 
and a judge. He possesses the absolute confidence of the public, and 
especially those who have business in his court. He is conscientious and 
is absolutely incorruptable. Nature seems to have especially designed him 
to be an arbiter of the affairs of men. He possesses great candor and a 
stern and abiding integrity. An acute and penetrating discernment, a nice 
discrimination, a clear perception and a sound judgment are predominating 
faculties of his mind; and the pursuit and attainment of justice afford him 
the highest gratification. He is tireless in the evolution of legal principles 
and always seeks an equitable adjustment of the most complicated cirecum- 
stances. His powers of analysis and amplification are peculiarly adapted 
to the elimination and development of the varied issues of law, equity and 
fact, often presented by the pleadings under the system which obtains in 
our West Virginia Courts. His conclusions are never arbitrary nor senten- 
tious; but are combinations of truth, justice and fairness as far as the 
technicalities of law will allow him to go along clear and logical paths of 
common fairness in the decision of a case. His nearly twenty years on the 
Bench cannot suggest an instance wherein he has not decided every case 
that came before him strictly according to the law and the evidence as he 
understood both to be. To sum up in a word, his eareer on the Bench is 
that of an able and just Judge, who bears the confidence and respect of 
all the people who know him personally or have had business dealings with 
him. Judge Keller is a communicant of the Protestant Episcopal Church; 
is a member of all the branches of Freemasonry; is of large stature and 
of commanding personal appearance. He married Miss Merey J. Baldy, 
October 25, 1887, but has no children. The home office of his court is at 
Charleston, the capital of the State. He became a member of the West 
Virginia Bar Association in 1900 and was its President in 1912. 

Columbian University conferred the degree of LL.D. upon him in June, 
1902. An honor worthily bestowed. 


Judge Francis A. Guthrie, LL.B. 


Judge Guthrie was born in Tyler County, Virginia, April 12, 1840. He 
was attending Allegheny College at Meadville, Pennsylvania, when in 
September, 1861, he enlisted as a private soldier in the Union Army. He 
was steadily promoted until he was made captain of Company EH, 111th 
Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. After the close of the war he entered 
the Law Department of Michigan University at Ann Arbor, and graduated 
therefrom with the degree of LL.B. He located at Point Pleasant, Mason 
County, shortly after his graduation, and began the practice of law. Hav- 
ing thoroughly mastered all of the fundamental principles of the profession 


JUDGE F. A. GUTHRIE 


114 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


t 


it was but a very short time until he found himself in possession of a large 
and profitable clientele. He was courteous, polite and affable, and was a 
strong advocate, which enabled him, in a short period of time, to rank 
among the leaders of that Bar. In 1870 he was elected Prosecuting 
Attorney of Mason County. This office he filled ably. In 1880 he was the 
nominee of the Republican party for the office of Cireuit Judge for the 
Counties of Mason, Putnam and Kanawha, and was elected for the term 
of eight years. He filled the office so ably and satisfactorily to lawyers, 
suitors and the people generally that he was twice re-elected. He was so 
deeply grounded in the law, and having naturally the judicial tempera- 
ment, he was rarely reversed by the higher courts. Moreover he was 
thoroughly honest and sincere and had the confidence and respect of all 
the people who came in contact with him, either personally or officially. 
He was an erudite lawyer and a just and able jurist. He died August 16, 
1904, a short time before the expiration of his third term as Circuit Judge, 
after nearly twenty-four years of continuous service on the Bench. Hvery 
one who knew him was his friend. 

He married Miss Clara Van Gilder, April 30, 1866, by whom he had one 
son, Dr. Lewis V. Guthrie, an eminent physician, who has, for going on a 
quarter of a century, been at the head of two of the Insane Hospitals of 
West Virginia, and has become an eminent specialist on diseases of the 
mind. 


Hon. John A. Hutchinson 


Mr. Hutchinson was born in the City of Parkersburg, Wood County, 
Virginia, in 1840, and for a generation was one of the leaders of the strong 
Bar of that city. As a court house trial lawyer he had but few equals in 
the entire State of West Virginia. He was admitted as an attorney in 
1861 after having read law with his father-in-law, James M. Stephenson, 
who was an eminent member of the profession. He was elected Prosecuting 
Attorney of the adjoining County of Pleasants in 1862, and served as such 
for nine consecutive years. In 1863 he was elected to the same office in 
Wood, County and served in that capacity until 1870. He was also elected 
Prosecuting Attorney of Wirt and Ritchie Counties and served from 1866 
to 1869, inclusive. He was a noted criminal lawyer and was a successful 
and powerful prosecutor. He was elected a member of the West Virginia 
Legislature of 1875-6 and was the Republican floor leader of that body. 
He was a ready and indeed powerful debater, and was practically irre- 
pressible. He was the candidate of the Republican party in 1876 and also 
in 1884 for the office of Attorney-General of the State, and was defeated 
both times. He was likewise defeated in 1880 as a candidate for Congress 
in the old First Congressional District, but he ran considerably ahead of 
his ticket in all of these elections. In 1886 he was defeated by his Demo- 
cratic opponent as a candiate for Congress in the Fourth Congressional 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 115 


District. While he dabbled considerably in politics yet for years he was 
regarded as one of the ablest lawyers in the entire State, and for a long 
time had the largest practice of any of the strong Parkersburg lawyers. 

Mr. Hutchinson’s forte was trial practice; the examination and cross- 
examination of witnesses always being entrusted to him by his associates. 
While he was noted specially as a great criminal lawyer he was equally 
stzong in civil practice, and had a large clientage in all State and Federal 
Courts. For many years he was Chief Counsel in West Virginia for the 
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company. He was not a college man, and yet 
he was an omniverous reader and possessed an almost unlimited fund of 
general knowledge, which he used with telling effect in his court trials. 
He was a tall, commanding man in appearance, and was genial and agree- 
able with his associates. He was a learned lawyer and was unusually 
gifted in successfully presenting his cases to a court and jury. 

Mr. Hutchinson was the author of two valuable works on law, viz.: 
‘* Law Titles in Virginia and West Virginia,’’? and an ‘‘ Official Form 
Book.’’ These publications added greatly to his reputation as a lawyer. 
He died at Parkersburg, West Virginia, while in his prime mentally and 
physically, and was mourned by a large concourse of admiring friends. 


Judge George Loomis 


The first Judge of the Sixth Circuit under the new State and afterwards 
presiding over the ninth continuously to January 1, 1873, when the revised 
Constitution cut short the term, was the above named attorney from 
Parkersburg. He was born at Little Falls, New York, April, 1824. In 
1840 he removed to Fairfax County, Virginia, taught school, completed 
academic studies with Professor Burnley, of Culpeper, located in Fayette 
in 1848, and was County Surveyor, studied law and was admitted to prac- 
tice in 1851; fixed his residence in Parkersburg in 1852, and served as 
Prosecuting Attorney for Jackson and Roane Counties in 1860. He was 
elected Judge of the Circuit in 1862 ’ere West Virginia was created, and 
ably served on the Bench for ten years. He took an active part in estab- 
lishing free schools in the State, in extending the elective franchise, in 
organizing West Virginia, and advocating its advancement and substantial 
development. He was Mayor of Parkersburg in an exciting period; was 
State Senator from 1875 to 1877; contested unsuccessfully the election of 
Judge J. Monroe Jackson for the eight years’ term, beginning January 1, 
1873, as Judge of the Circuit; was made the candidate of the Republican 
party for Congress in the Fourth District, but failed of election, though 
he made a vigorous and prudent campaign. Judge Loomis had a large 
practice in State and Federal Courts. He passed into the Great Beyond 
when about eighty years of age. 


116 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


\ 


Hon. Joseph Moreland, A.B. 


Mr. Moreland, who departed this life December 2, 1913, was one of the 
prominent and successful lawyers of the Monongalia County Bar for more 


than forty years. He was the son of John and Priscilla (Rogers) Moreland, 
and was born May 26, 1842, at Connellsville, Pennsylvania. When he was 


a lad his parents migrated to Morgantown, Monongalia County, Virginia, 
where our subject was reared and received his early education in the 
Monongalia Academy, conducted by President Moore, who was a second 
Arnold of Rugby —one of the most noted educators within the limits of 
the entire State of Virginia. He was also a student at the Dunlap’s Creek 
Academy at Merrittstown, Pennsylvania, and finally entered Washington 
and Jefferson College, Washington, Pennsylvania, and was an honored 
graduate in the complete classical course, with the degree of Bachelor of 
Arts, in the class of 1866. At that period but few men had the advantages 
of as thorough an education as Mr. Moreland, which in part accounted for 
his eminence at the Bar and as a leader among men. 

He was always a Democrat in politics, but was never a zealous partisan, 
nor was he at any time an office-seeker. The only offices he ever held came 
to him without the asking. He was Mayor of Morgantown many times; 
was appointed a Commissioner by the Governor of West Virginia to assess 
the railroad property within the State in 1874; was a delegate*to the 
National Democratic Convention at St. Louis in 1888, and was a local 
Regent of the West Virginia University from 1882 to 1896. In all of these 
public positions he discharged his duties with efficiency and fidelity. He 
was at all times honorable, reliable and trustworthy. There was no period 
in his mature life that he did not have the absolute confidence and respect 
of the people in the community where more than half a century of his life 
was spent. He was tender, affectionate and thoughtful of the wants of 
others in his home and community life, and his history as a man and an 
attorney is a record of manliness complete in every detail. He was a man 
of marked personal appearance — tall, rugged, strong features, and his whole 
aspect full of force. His practice extended into all the branches of the 
profession in all the courts of the State and Federal Governments. He was 
a hard student of the law and always kept up with the decisions and text 
books, and dignified the profession by exhibiting in the practice the highest 
types of integrity, fidelity, learning and wisdom. 

Mr. Moreland married Miss Mary Ellen Brown, October 26, 1875, by 
whom he had one daughter and one son. The son is mentioned in another 
part of this volume, and is a successful member of the Morgantown Bar. 
The senior Moreland was an active member of the Presbyterian Church; 
was an Odd Fellow, and a member of the Delta Tau Delta College Fraternity. 
He was also a son of the American Revolution. His death, which oceurred 
December 2, 1913, was universally mourned by the people of Morgantown. 


HON. JOSEPH MORELAND 


118 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Judges Lewis and George W. Summers 


These two brothers were among the most distinguished lawyers and 
jurists of Western Virginia, who, taken together, covered a period in 
public life of more than a half century. They were sons of Col. George 
Summers of Fairfax County, Virginia. Lewis, the elder of the two 
brothers, was born in Fairfax County, November 7, 1778, and died in 
Kanawha County, August 27, 1843. George W., who was the youngest of 
the family of ten, was born March 4, 1804, and also died in Kanawha 
County, July 23, 1868. Lewis was liberally educated at Alexandria, Vir- 
ginia, and ‘‘ read law ’’ before coming to Kanawha. George W., who was 
twenty-six years younger, attended the Ohio University at Athens, Ohio, 
and graduated in the classical course, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. 
He subsequently read law under the direction of his elder brother, Lewis. 
Both of them became members of the Kanawha Bar and became eminent 
as practitioners as well as able and learned judges. Lewis, perhaps, pos- 
sessed more of the judicial temperament, while George W. was more dis- 
tinguished as an advocate or trial lawyer. It cannot be controverted that 
the younger Summers was far and away the most powerful orator who 
ever inhabited the Western portion of Virginia. In the trial of important 
causes before juries he was practically invincible. His brother Lewis on 
the other hand possessed no such gift, and never aspired to anything of 
that sort. He was, perhaps, more deeply grounded in legal principles and 
more erudite in the law, as a science, than his younger brother, but lacked 
in a marked degree his brilliancy and force; and while he stood in the front 
rank with his contemporaries as a jurist, he never achieved the reputation 
in the profession that clustered around the younger brother. This, however, 
may be accounted for in the fact that the senior never intermeddled with 
politics, while the junior had a strong penchant in that direction. Anyway, 
they were both great lawyers and jurists, and both of them were men of the 
highest order of honor and integrity. In polities both of them were Whigs, 
and in religion both of them were ardent Episcopalians. Both of them 
were men of large stature, though not overly tall, and were commanding in 
appearance. Their very presence indicated towering ability. Judge Lewis 
never married. Judge George W. married Miss Amacetta Laidley, of Cabell 
County, and had several children, one of whom, Lewis Summers, is a resi- 
dent of Charleston. 

Lewis Summers was appointed by the Legislature, in February, 1819, one 
of the judges of the General Court and Judge of the Kanawha Judicial 
Circuit. As a judge he was painstaking, laborious and of inflexible integrity. 
His learning eminently qualified him for the Bench, and he had the con- 
fidence of lawyers and people. He died while in office, having served 
faithfully for twenty-four years. 

George W. Summers had a vast practice in Kanawha and adjoining 
counties, but now and then he took time for a dash in polities. He was a 


| 
| 


| Bench and Bar of West Virginia 119 
a SS SSS 
member of the Virginia Legislature in 1830 and ’31, and again in 1834 
and 735. He was elected to Congress in 1841, and again in 1843, and was 
a member of the Virginia Convention of 1850, and was ranked among the 
ablest debaters of that body of distinguished men. He was elected Judge 
of the Kanawha Circuit Court in 1852, and resigned after serving ably the 
greater part of the term. He was the Whig candidate for Governor of 
Virginia in 1851 and was defeated by the Democrats. In 1861 he was sent 
to the Peace Conference at Washington and opposed secession, standing 
firmly for the Union. He, however, took no part in the organization of the 
Restored Government of Virginia at Wheeling. 

He and his brother Lewis were both buried on the Summers farm, which 
is still in the possession of the family, at Walnut Grove on the Great 
Kanawha River, about twenty miles below Charleston. 


Zachariah Jacob 


Mr. Jacob for many years stood at the head of the Ohio County Bar of 
the City of Wheeling. He was a native of Ohio County, Virginia. We 
regret that we cannot find the exact date of his birth, but it must have 
been in the latter part of the seventeenth century, because he was admitted 
to practice along about the year of 1820 to 1823 or ’24. His long life of 
usefulness as a lawyer and a citizen of that section of the State was never 
tainted by even a suspicion of dishonesty or wrongdoing of any sort what- 
ever. The men who were contemporaneous with him in the profession have 
themselves all passed away, and there only remains the general impression 
of him that he was the foremost lawyer of the section in which he 
flourished during a long, useful and successful life as a member of the 
Wheeling Bar. The records of the courts show that his practice for a half 
century or more was not only very large, but was of a general character, 
which shows that he was informed and well informed on all branches of 
the law. It is safe, therefore, to class him among the learned members 
of the profession of his generation. It is generally agreed that he did not 
excel as an advocate; that his strength did not lie particularly in oratory. 
On the contrary he was a man of unusual force of character; he possessed 
a logical mind and argued his cases in such a manner as to convince both 
judge and jury of the true merits of what he claimed. He was sincere in 
all of his utterances; consequently he lost no cases that he ought to have 
won. He was not, per se, a great trial lawyer, as that term is generally 
understood by the profession, but his arguments were invariably logical, 
reasonable and convincing. He knew the law and knew how to apply it 
with convincing force, and never allowed himself to be forced from his true 
bearings, or to be confused or thrown off his feet. We do not mean to say 
that he was not a strong attorney in a court trial, but rather that he was 
not a brilliant advocate and did not attempt to win a case by tawdry gum 
flowers of rhetoric or oratory alone. From what we can learn of him he 


120 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


never tried to win a case by a camouflage of any sort. He tried his cases 
like an erudite lawyer should have tried them, wholly upon the law and 
the facts, and tried them ably and fairly. 

Mr. Jacob meddled but little with politics, but at the same time he was 
a man of deep convictions on all important subjects. He simply preferred 
his law office to any other business and he thus lived out his days. He was 
a useful citizen and it is said he was always in the lead in whatever prom- 
ised to promote the interests of the community in which he was born and 
spent a long and useful life. He died late in the sixties much lamented by 
all the people. He was unquestionably a great, good and useful lawyer 
and citizen. If he ever held an office we have no record of it. 


Hon. Samuel Price 


Senator Price was eminent both in law and in statesmanship. He was 
born in Fanquier County, Virginia, July 28, 1805. His early education was 
quite meager, and was confined to common school branches. He, however, 
in later years, by studious habits, became well informed upon most every 
possible subject, which constitute real learning, real education. He moved, 
in early life, from Fanquier to Preston County in the western part of the 
State, but remained there only a short time. From there he moved into 
Nicholas County, and in 1830 he took the United States Census of that 
county. While there he began the study of legal textbooks, which he 
vigorously pursued. He passed a creditable examination and was admitted 
to the Bar of that county in 1832. Before he was admitted to practice 
he was chosen Clerk of the County Court of Nicholas County in 1831. In 
1833 he was elected Prosecuting Attorney of the county. In 1834 he was 
elected to membership in the Virginia Legislature as a delegate from Nich- 
olas and Fayette Counties, and was re-elected in 1835 and 736. He also was 
elected a delegate to the Legislature from Braxton County in 1837, an 
adjoining county to Nicholas, where he attended the regular terms of court 
and was known as a young lawyer of noble character and great promise. 
In fact, his practice extended into all of the adjoining counties, and he 
felt almost as much at home in them as in his own adopted county of 
Nicholas. Braxton County continued to send him to the Legislature as its 
delegate up to and including 1850. In 1838 he removed his residence to 
Lewisburg in Greenbrier County, where the possibilities for a rising young 
lawyer were much greater than in the interior counties, and was sent to 
the Legislature from that county continuously from 1837 to 1852, except 
one year. He represented Greenbrier County in the Virginia Constitutional 
Convention of 1850—’51, and again he represented that county in the 
Convention of 1860—’61; and still again, he was called upon to represent 
that county in the Constitutional Convention of 1871—’72 of West Virginia, 
after the formation of the new State, and was President of it. 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 121 


In politics he was a Whig, but in 1861, when Virginia seceded from the 
Union, he cast his lot with the South and became a Democrat. During the 
Civil War, in 1863, he was elected Lieutenant-Governor of Virginia. After 
the close of hostilities he returned to Greenbrier County and resumed the 
practice of law, and was elected a Circuit Judge, but declined to qualify. 
He was appointed a United States Senator from West Virginia to fill the 
vacancy occasioned by the death of Hon. Allen T. Caperton and served 
as such from December 4, 1876, to January 31, 1877. He was able in all 
branches of the law, but specialized in the settlement of land titles, in 
which he had a State-wide reputation. He was a man of honor and of the 
highest integrity, and, during his entire life, he had the implicit confidence 
of the people who knew him. 

He married Miss Jane Stuart of Greenbrier County and as a result of 
their union nine children were born to them. He was a member of the 
Presbyterian Church and was a Ruling Elder therein for the greater part 
of his mature life. He died at Lewisburg, February 25, 1884, and was 
mourned by many people. 


Judge Moses C. Good 


Judge Good is remembered by the people of Ohio County as one of the 
early, able and distinguished lawyers of the Northern ‘‘Pan Handle’’ of 
Virginia; but there is a dearth of the printed history of those times of the 
prominent men of the section, and we find it next to an impossibility to 
secure the details of even the prominent men of that period. There are 
plenty of men now living in the city of Wheeling who remember Judge 
Good, but they can furnish no detailed facts of his early life, such as the 
date of his birth, his educational advantages, his family history, ete. They 
simply remember him as one of the prominet lawyers, whose career at the 
Wheeling Bar covered a period of nearly three-quarters of a century of 
past history. 

Mr. Good seems to be best remembered for his zeal and ability as 
Prosecuting Attorney of Ohio County that he always brought to the 
discharge of his official duties during the many years he filled that office. 
It is still said of him that he knew neither friend nor foe. He was a 
terror to evil doers, and in the discharge of his official obligations he was 
a most vigorous prosecutor. If one violated the statutes of the State he 
had to be punished for his folly, and he knew it when he was brought 
before the court. He was well versed in the law, and in the trial of causes 
he was the peer of any member of the Bar, especially if he was prosecuting. 
He was a plain but forcible speaker and was a strong and, indeed, powerful 
advocate, and never failed to hold the strict attention of his auditors. He 
was distinctively a jury lawyer, and handled his cases with unusual skill 
and judgment. He began the practice in Wheeling in 1826 and kept going 
practically all the time until his death, which cecurred in 1873. He was 


122 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


{ 


never an office-seeker, but devoted his undivided attention to the practice 
of his profession. He never held but one political office and that was 
Mayor of Wheeling, and one year in that position was all that he could 
endure, and positively refused to accept a second term; and he also 
declined to accept a salary for the year (1846) he served as such. 

In May, 1865, he was elected Judge of the Municipal Court of Wheeling, 
which had been created by an act of the State Legislature, which position 
he ably filled for nearly eight years and was holding when death called 
him. He was a man of exalted moral character, was a conscientious legal 
adviser, an incorruptible judge and had the absolute confidence of the 
people generally. He is still referred to as one of the strong, ideal lawyers 
and citizens of the times in which he flourished. He was, during his entire 
mature life, deeply interested in the progress and development of the 
resources of Wheeling, and devoted all his energies to that laudable purpose. 


Judge Charles S. Lewis 


Judge Lewis was born in Clarksburg, Virginia, February 26, 1821. He 
received a liberal education in his county, then a preparatory course in 
the Ohio University, at Athens, and was graduated in 1844 from Augusta 
College, Kentucky, and admitted to the Bar in Harrison County, September 
15, 1846. He held many influential official positions and in all discharged 
his duties well. He was a member of the General Assembly of Virginia 
from 1849 to 1852, and a member of Congress in 1854-55; elected to the 
House of Delegates of West Virginia, session of 1871; was State Super- 
infendent of Free Schools and ex-officio Adjutant-General from March 4, 
1871, to December 31, 1872, when he resigned to enter upon the duties of 
Judge of the Second Circuit, composed of the counties of Wetzel, Marion, 
Monongalia, Taylor, Doddridge and Harrison. His term of office would 
have expired December 31, 1880. He died January 22, 1878, esteemed for 
his upright life, his social qualities and impartial official career. His 
home was in the city of Clarksburg. 


Judge Joseph L. Fry 


Judge Fry was an eminent lawyer of his day and served from 1831 to 
1852 as judge of the Circuit Court of the First Judicial District of Virginia, 
known as the Wheeling Circuit. He was also a learned Judge and honored 
the judicial ermine. He was born in Culpeper County, Virginia, February 
2, 1805, and died at Lewisburg, Greenbrier County, Virginia, June 10, 1865. 
He combined the highest legal talent with scrupulous integrity in the dis- 
charge of his official duties. He possessed a vigorous, cultivated mind, was 
of untiring devotion to the profession of his choice and rapidly rose to dis- 


_—- * 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 123 


4 


tinction. His prominence as a jurist was acknowledged by his associates 
on the Bench who constituted the General Court of Virginia. His profound 
knowledge of the law, his scrupulous impartiality, his spotless integrity 
won and claimed the highest respect of the Bar; while his official urbanity 
secured their warm personal regard. Whilst he was thoroughly honest and 
fair in his rulings as a Judge, he possessed an air of austerity that made 
him unpopular with the masses. It was this peculiarity that caused his 
defeat by Judge G. W. Thompson when Judge Fry was a candidate for 
re-election to the office of Judge of the Wheeling Circuit and caused his 
retirement from judicial service and from public life. Nevertheless he was 
distinguished for great soundness of knowledge in all of its various depart- 
ments and for the culture of a pure literary taste. 

Judge Fry spent the declining years of his life among his near relatives 
at Lewisburg, Greenbrier County. He was twice married, and had four 
children by the first and eight by the second wife. The majority of them 
are still living. 


Judge Gideon Draper Camden 


Judge Camden, son of the Rev. Henry Camden, was born in Anne Arundel 
County, Maryland. While yet quite a youth he came to West Virginia with 
his father and settled on the West Fork River, about fifteen miles south 
of Weston in Lewis County. Here young Camden attended the common 
schools of that locality, and in 1822, at the instance of Col. John G. 
Stringer, who was Clerk of the Superior Court of Lewis County, employed 
Mr. Camden as a deputy. He remained in this position for a number of 
years, studied law, and in 1827 attended, for about one year, the Law 
School at Wytheville, Virginia, conducted by General Alexander Smyth. 
After leaving this school he was given a license to practice by Judges 
Johnston, Taylor and Allen, all men of high standing in the profession of 
that period. Near the close of 1827 he returned to Weston and commenced 
the practice of law, with great energy, in Lewis and adjoining counties. 
His experience in the Clerk’s office had familiarized him with court forms 
and methods of procedure, which were very helpful to him as an attorney. 
In a very short time he became a prontinent and well-known lawyer of that 
section of the State. 

In 1850 Mr. Camden was elected as a Whig to the Constitutional Con- 
vention of that year to amend the State Constitution. This Convention 
changed and reformed the State government by giving the right of suffrage 
to all male citizens of the State, who were twenty-one years of age, and 
provided for the election by the people of the Governor, Judges and all 
other State and county officials. It also provided for a system of public 
schools. Mr. Camden took an active part in the proceedings of the Con- 
vention, advoeating and sustaining most of the reforms that were adopted. 
In May, 1852, Mr. Camden was elected Judge of the Twenty-first Circuit. 
He gave entire satisfaction as a Judge and was re-elected for a second term 


124 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


se 


ot eight years. Prior to his election as Judge he moved his residence to 
Clarksburg and was very successful as an attorney. 

He went with the South during the Civil War, although he voted against 
secession, and remained until its close. In 1872 he was elected a member 
of the State Senate, serving the full term of four years. He was an able 
lawyer and a just Judge. He was twice married; by his first wife he had 
a large family. He was successful in the management of his business affairs 
and left a large estate. He possessed, in a large degree, the confidence of 
his fellow citizens. He lived to the ripe old age of eighty-six. 

He acted with the Democratic party after the Civil War. 


Judge Edwin Maxwell 


Judge Maxwell was born in the town of Weston, Lewis County, Virginia, 
July 16, 1825. He was reared on a farm until he was twenty-one years of 
age. His educational advantages, therefore, were limited. He, however, 
was studious and industrious and spared no opportunity to attain all the 
knowledge by careful courses of reading and study within his reach. He 
never attended a college of any kind, but by the time he had reached twenty- 
five years of age he had acquired, by the thoughful reading and study of 
valuable books, a large amount of useful knowledge and had become master 
of a clear, terse and vigorous style both in writing and speaking. What a 
man makes of himself, and not what he is made by the aid and influence 
oi friends and family, is the most patent and prominent thought that arrests 
the attention and deepens the convictions of his fellow men. President 
Eliot, of Harvard University, once said, ‘‘ Ability to earn, power to learn, 
and the faculty of looking forward, are the three capacities requisite for 
success in any undertaking, and constitute a definition of eduecation.’’ If - 
this is true, and we believe it is largely so, Judge Maxwell must be classed 
as an educated man, although he never rubbed his back against a college 
wall. 

Judge Maxwell read law, under the direction of a legal friend, passed the 
required eramination and was admitted to practice at the West Union, 
Doddridge County, Bar in 1852. From the start it was apparent that he 
possessed the elements of success. He was honest, industrious, conscientious 
and fair, and soon won the confidence of the people of that locality. He 
was a safe counselor, and consequently was careful in giving his opinions 
on law. His business grew, and in order to reach a field of wider opportuni- 
ties he moved to Clarksburg in 1857 and formed a law partnership with 
Col. Burton Despard, a successful lawyer of that town. In 1865 Gen. Nathan 
Goff, Jr., a brilliant young lawyer, who subsequently became a Member 
of Congress, a United States Circuit Judge and a United States Senator, 
was taken into the firm, which continued until 1867 when Mr. Maxwell 
was chosen an Associate Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeals of the 
State. He served ably in that capacity until December 31, 1872. 


JUDGE EDWIN MAXWELL 


126 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Judge Maxwell was a Republican and always had a strong liking for 
politics. He took a leading part in forming the State of West Virginia. 
From 1863 to 1866 he was a member of the State Senate, and as Chairman 
of the Judiciary Committee had much to do with the formation of the early 
legislation of the new State. In 1866 he was also Attorney-General of the 
State. In 1884 he was the Republican candidate for Governor and was 
defeated along with the balance of the ticket. In 1888 he was again elected 
a member of the State Senate, in which body he was an active and able 
member. Later on he was elected a member of the lower branch of the 
West Virginia Legislature. He was honest and efficient in every public 
office he ever held and acquitted himself invariably with credit. He died 
at his home in Clarksburg, where he resided the larger part of his life, 
February 5, 1903. 

Judge Maxwell was an able lawyer and jurist. He was absolutely incor- 
ruptible and was severely candid and just. His life and achievements stamped - 
him as a man of integrity and an uncompromising patriot. He married 
Miss Laura Shuttlesworth when he was about forty years of age and left 
two sons, one of whom became a lawyer of note and is now serving, with 
great acceptability, as Circuit Judge of the Harrison and Lewis Circuit, a 
sketch of whom will be found on another page of this volume. 


Judge George W. Thompson 


This eminent lawyer, jurist and publicist was born in Wheeling, or near 
there, in Ohio County, Virginia, May 14, 1806. He was graduated from 
Jefferson College, Cannonsburg, Pennsylvania, in the class of 1824. He read 
law in the office of W. B. Hubbard at St. Clairsville, Ohio, and was admitted 
to the Bar in 1826. Thereafter he spent about two years with his uncle, 
W. P. Thompson, at Richmond, Virginia, where he entered upon a wider 
and more comprehensive study of the law; and in 1828 returned to St. 
Clairsville, Ohio, opened a law office and soon achieved a large and lucrative 
practice. He also entered, with great earnestness, into the political cam- 
paigns of that day, having espoused the Democratic side in politics. In 
1832 he married the daughter of Daniel Steenrod, a wealthy citizen of 
Wheeling, Virginia. In 1837 he moved to Wheeling and continued the prac- 
tice of his profession, which soon became large and profitable. In the 
meantime he was appointed Postmaster of that city by President Van 
Buren, in 1838, which at that time was the most important post office in 
the West. In 1844 he was appointed United States Attorney for the 
Western District of Virginia, by President Polk, in which position he 
remained until 1848, achieving unusual distinction in the discharge of his 
official duties. 

In 1851, whilst he was serving his first term in Congress with much 
distinction and advantage to his constituents, he was nominated and elected 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 127 


( 


Judge of the Uircuit Court of Wheeling District, defeating Hon. Joseph L. 
Fry (who is sketched in another part of this volume), an eminent lawyer 
of great erudition, who had been Judge of that Cireuit for a number of 
years and was serving acceptably. In 1860 he was re-elected to the same 
ofmee, which he filled ably until July, 1861, when he was removed because 
he refused to take the required oath to support the Restored Government 
of Virginia, which was established after the State of Virginia had secedea 
from the Union, his sympathies being with the South in the great conflict 
from 1861 to 1865. At the close of the Civil War he retired from active 
participation in politics and from the practice of the law, living in dignified 
retirement on his farm, which was on Wheeling Creek in the outskirts of 
the city of Wheeling, finding agreeable occupation in literary work until 
his death, which occurred February 24, 1888. 

In 1866 he published a book entitled ‘‘The Living Forces.’’? He followed 
this publication with another volume in 1870, which was a further discus- 
sion of the same subject, entitled ‘‘Deus Semper’’; and still another 
volume entitled ‘‘The Administration of Good and Evil,’’ or what may be 
termed a summary of his previous philosophical works, embodying an 
immense field of ideas in condensed form. His wide range of knowledge 
made him one of the most companionable of men. In this manner he closed 
his distinguished career as a lawyer, jurist, scholar and statesman. 


Hon. Philip Doddridge 


This great man was a native of Bedford County, Pennsylvania, where 
he was born May 17, 1772. When seventeen years of age he was placed in 
school at Wellsburg, Virginia, under the tutelage of an educator by the 
name of Johnson. Here he remained for several years, devoting himself 
principally to the study of the Latin language. In those days educational 
facilities were very meager; but the determination of young Doddridge to 
become a scholar made up in a large degree for the lack of college advan- 
tages. It was said he was so apt that his vigorous mind drank in knowledge 
with the rapidity of thought, as a dry sponge absorbs water. It was a 
habit with him, while in school, as a memory exercise, to change the con- 
versation around him into the idiom of his studies; and following his father 
in his morning and evening devotions, he soon learned to render his prayers 
into very good Latin and to converse fluently with his teacher in that 
dead language. He never attended college, but he was nevertheless an 
educated man. The lack of a regular college training in early life made it 
all the more difficult in after years to reach a fair rank in scholarship; 
but close application all through life enabled him to sustain himself upon 
all occasions as a man of vast erudition. It is not claiming too much to 
say that he possessed great acquirements. 

In the study of law he was his own teacher; and May 23, 1797, he was 
admitted to the Bar at Wellsburg. He pursued practice with but little 


/ 


128 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


intermission until 1815; and by this time he was the acknowledged hest 
lawyer in northwestern Virginia. Those who knew him well say he prob- 
ably was never excelled by any Virginian lawyer, if he has been equaled, 
in his discrimination in fathoming the depths of an intricate ease, or in his 
powerful and logical reasoning in unfolding it. 

The first important official position filled by Mr. Doddridge was that of 
a member of the Legislature of Virginia for the years 1815-16. It was at 
this session that he commenced his opposition to the arbitrary principles 
of the then existing Constitution of Virginia, which he never relaxed until 
the Convention of 1829-30 crowned his efforts in behalf of popular rights 
with partial success. He was again a member of the Legislature of 1822-23. 
During this session he manifested a lively interest in the promotion of 
education, both in the University of Virginia and in the private schools. 
All through life he was the earnest friend of education. He was a leading 
member of the Constitutional Convention of 1829-30, and was perhaps the 
ablest debater in it. The great men of the Eastern part of the State found 
in him an adversary worthy of their steel. He was a candidate for Con- 
gress, from the Wheeling district, in 1823, and was defeated by the 
Hon. Joseph Johnson, of Harrison County, the Democratic candidate. Again, 
in 1825, Mr. Johnson defeated him for the same position. In 1829 they 
were again competitors, and this time Mr. Doddridge was successful. _ His 
reputation had preceded him to Washington; and he at once occupied an 
intellectual rank equal to that of his eminent colleagues and hardly second 
to any member of the House. Especially was this true upon all matters 
involving the discussion of legal and constitutional questions. His faculty 
as a draughtsman was remarkable. He had a wonderful power of con- 
densation. The appropriate words, like’ well-drilled battalions, fell har- 
moniously into their proper places; and there were neither too many nor 
too few of them. Daniel Webster once said of Mr. Doddridge, that he would 
give all he possessed if it would secure him this talent in the same degree 
of perfection. He also stated on a public occasion that Philip Doddridge 
was the only man he really feared in debate. 


Mr. Doddridge continued a member of Congress up to the time of his 


death, which occurred in 1832, in the maturity and full vigor of his wonder- 
ful intellect, just at the time when his eminent abilities and distinction in 
the chief council chamber of the Nation had so attracted and commanded 
the publie attention as to presage for him a higher and still more illustrious 
career. All of his contemporaries are now dead, but the late United States 
Senator Charles Sumner, himself a distinguished member of the legal pro- 
fession, stated that he regarded Mr. Doddridge as one of the most erudite 
lawyers he ever knew. The county of Doddridge, of this State, was named 
in his honor. Our information is, his father was the Rev. Dr. Joseph 
Doddridge, who was the author of a volume entitled ‘‘Doddridge’s Notes 
on Virginia.’’ 


——— rt 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 129 


Hon. Spencer Dayton 


Spencer Dayton was a native of Litchfield County, Connecticut, born 
January 22, 1820. He had the benefit of about one-half the course of the 
Connecticut common schools. After laboring on a farm until he was sixteen 
years of age he learned the trade of a millwright. In 1837 the panic, and 
consequent hard times, destroyed the business of a millwright, so he 
learned the carpenter and joiner’s trade, at which he continued to work 
until 1843. Having studied Latin and Greek under a private instructor, 
in the fall of 1843, he began the study of law in the office of Nelson 
Brewster, a noted attorney of Litchfield County. In 1846 he was admitted 
to the Bar, and practiced in the courts of that section until June, 1847, 
when he moved to Barbour County, Virginia, where he resided and con- 
stantly kept up the practice of his profession until his final illness and 
death. He served one term in the State Senate of West Virginia, having 
been elected to that office in the Spring of 1869. He filled the office of 
Prosecuting Attorney for Barbour, Randolph, Taylor and Tucker Counties. 
He was a thorough lawyer in all the branches of the law and was remark- 
ably successful as a practitioner. He was the father of Judge Alston G. 
Dayton, of the United States District Court for the Northern District of 
West Virginia. He died at his home at Philippi, at a ripe old age, where 
he spent the greater part of his life. 


Judge Robert Wood Dailey 


Judge Dailey is a son of Robert W. Dailey, Sr., and Rebecca H. (Taylor) 
Dailey, and was born April 18, 1849, at Romney, Hampshire County, Vir- 
ginia. He was educated in private schools at Cumberland, Maryland, and 
Winchester, Virginia. He read law privately, passed the required legal 
examination and was admitted to the Hampshire County Bar in 1870, and 
later to the Bars of the adjoining counties of Hardy, Mineral and Grant. 
He was elected Prosecuting Attorney of his native county and faithfully 
served in said capacity from January 1, 1871, to April 21, 1892, when he 
was appointed Judge of the Circuit Court of the Thirteenth Circuit. After 
filling out the vacancy to which he was appointed by the Governor, he was 
elected by the people to the same office. The boundaries of the Circuits 
were changed by the Legislature, and his Circuit or District became the 
Seventeenth, and he was again re-elected by the people for another term 
and is still serving in the same highly honorable and responsible office, 
which makes his term of service, to the present time, upwards of twenty-six 
years. No man can serve that length of time in the same judicial position 
when the statutory term is only eight years, unless he is particularly quali- 
fied for such position. 


5 


130 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


t 


As a lawyer Judge Dailey was thorough, accurate and well informed. 
The accuracy of his pleadings, his uniform urbanity and simplicity of 
manner, his fidelity to his clients and the force and character which he 
brought to bear upon a cause, all contributed to his popularity and success. 
He was a good lawyer and for more than a quarter of a century he has 
been an honor to the Bench, and his upright character and professional 
qualifications are exemplary and elevating to both the Bar and Bench. His 
decisions manifest an earnest search for truth and a conscientious dispensa- 
tion of justice. He is firm in his convictions, yet tolerant of the opinions 
of others, and never obtrudes or urges the reception of his views as a 
condition of his courtesy and regard. He is courteous and kind to lawyers, 
suitors and witnesses and is remarkably popular with the people of his 
circuit. 

He is a Democrat in politics and a Presbyterian in his religious convic- 
tions and for many years has been a Ruling Elder. He married Miss Louisa 
Booker and has six children — three boys and three girls. 


Judge Harold A. Ritz 


The subject of this sketch, son of James M. and Catherine Ritz, was born 
in the city of Wheeling, West Virginia, July 25, 1873, and received a liberal 
education in the public schools of his native city and at Marshall College, 
Huntington, West Virginia. He moved to Bluefield, West Virginia, where 
he vigorously pursued the study of the law. After reading and rereading 
the required textbooks he passed a creditable examination and was admitted 
to the Bluefield, Mercer County, Bar in 1894, shortly after reaching his 
majority; he promptly entered upon his duties as an attorney-at-law. Being 
endowed with a powerful physical body, a rugged intellect and unlimited 
energy, he very soon took an enviable rank among the leading lawyers of 
that rapidly developing section of the Commonwealth. He speedily gained 
strength in his calling by practice and experience, and from the beginning 
he was careful and thoughtful in giving his opinions and advice to clients 
who sought his counsel on questions of law, and early made a reputation 
for being honest in his convictions, honest with the courts in which he 
practiced and with his adversaries also. In this manner he never failed 
to acquit himself with credit in all of the cases he was called upon to 
manage. 

His first public office was that of Judge of the Cireuit Court of Mercer 
and the surrounding counties, where he gave satisfaction to suitors and 
their attorneys. His next office was United States District Attorney for 
the Southern District of West Virginia, to which he was appointed by 
President William H. Taft, in which he served faithfully and ably for the 
full term of four years. In 1916 he was nominated by the Republican party 
as a candidate for the highest judicial office in the gift of the voters of the 


JUDGE HAROLD A. RITZ 


132 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


t 


State, that of membership on the Supreme Court of Appeals of West 
Virginia, and was elected by a handsome majority. As a member of said 
tribunal he has rendered intelligent, able and satisfactory service to both 
litigants and attorneys. He has proved to be a man of broad vision, 
thoroughly grounded in the fundamentals of the law, and above all a just 
and upright judge. His marked judicial temperament and his large 
experience as a trained lawyer qualified him for the discharge of his 
appellate duties with a high order of merit. The Supreme Bench, therefore, 
has been greatly strengthened by the acquisition of his vigorous and pro- 
nounced judicial powers. 

Whilst he was engaged in teaching in the public schools of Wayne County, 
West Virginia, for the period of one year, he employed all of his spare time 
reading legal textbooks, thus laying the foundation for his chosen pro- 
fession. 

He was united in marriage with Mrs. Helen Ruffner Jackson, during 
his term as District Attorney, and maintained a delightful home in the 
city of Bluefield; but since his elevation to the Supreme Court Bench he 
has become a resident of the city of Charleston, where the Supreme Court 
holds its sessions. 


Judge Alston Gordon Dayton, A.M. 


Judge Dayton is a scion of the illustrious family of Daytons who figured 
conspicuously in the early history of the United States. His great-grand- 
father was a captain in the Revolutionary War. One of this family of 
Daytons was Jonathan, Speaker of the House of Representatives of the 
Fourth Congress, and another, William L., was the candidate for Vice- 
President on the first Republican ticket, headed by Fremont in 1856, and 
was a strong competitor of Lincoln’s for the Presidential nomination in 
1860, and was sent as Minister to France by Mr. Lincoln. The father of 
the Judge, the late Hon. Spencer Dayton, a lawyer of eminence, came to 
the central part of this State in the early forties, and located in Barbour 
County. He was a man of strong convictions, stood by the Union cause 
in the early sixties and was one of the founders and builders of the State 
of West Virginia. 

Judge Dayton was born at Philippi, October 18, 1857, and has resided 
there all his life. He attended the public schools until he was sixteen years 
of age, when he entered the State University at Morgantown, from which 
he graduated in the classical course in the class of 1878, receiving the 
degree of Bachelor of Arts. During his last two years in college he began 
to read law, and on his twenty-first birthday he passed a creditable examina- 
tion and was admitted to the Barbour County Cireuit Court Bar. He 
formed a partnership with his father and immediately entered upon vigor- 
ous practice. It was not long until he took high rank at the Bars of 
Barbour and the surrounding counties of Upshur, Tucker, Taylor and 
Randolph, and had more or less connection with the important litigations 


| 


JUDGE ALSTON G. DAYTON 


134 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


arising in those counties in a period of over twenty-five years. During 
this period, until his death, he was in partnership with his father, Spencer 
Dayton, under the firm name of Dayton and Dayton. The Supreme Court 
of Appeals Reports for this State for this period disclose his connection 
with a large number of cases — too many to enumerate here. 

In 1879 Mr. Dayton was appointed Prosecuting Attorney for Upshur 
County, served two years and was a faithful official. In 1884 he was 
elected Prosecuting Attorney for his native county and the county never 
had a more active and efficient prosecutor. In 1894 he was the Republican 
nominee for Congress and was elected by an unexpectedly large majority 
over the late Hon. William L. Wilson, a man of great learning and ability. 
He was re-elected four successive terms, making ten years’ service in the 
American Congress. His record as one of our national law makers was of 
a very high order. He was a hard working member and had the confidence 
and esteem of all his fellow members. West Virginia never had a more 
faithful, painstaking member in that great legislative body of men. He 
was appointed Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern 
District of West Virginia in March, 1905, where he is now serving with 
credit and honor. Since going on the Bench he has, in addition to his 
regular work, by designation, held court in the Southern District of the 
State, in Pittsburg, New York and at least on an average each year of 
one term has sat on the Circuit Court of Appeals for this Cireuit. During 
these eleven years, besides routine trial work, he has filed more than 
150 written opinions, published in the Federal Reporter, and has sat in 
more than 75 cases with other Judges on the Cireuit Court of Appeals 
wherein written opinions have been filed by such other Judges. 

Judge Dayton is a man of unquestioned ability, of spotless personal 
character and of unsullied integrity. He has been nearly forty years a 
Ruling Elder in the Presbyterian Church, a Freemason, a Knight of Pythias 
and an Odd Fellow. In 1893 he was Grand Master of the latter for the 
State of West Virginia. He is married and has one son, who is one of the 
rising young lawyers of West Virginia. 


Professor St. George Tucker Brooke, LL.B., LL.D. 


Dr. Brooke was a member of the Tucker family of Virginia, who were 
seemingly a family of ‘‘born lawyers,’’ running through two or three 
generations. His father was Henry Laurence Brooke and his mother was 
Virginia Tucker, and he was born in Albemarle County, Virginia, July 22, 
1844. His early schooling was received at Winchester and Ashland, Vir- 
ginia, up to and including 1860, when he became a midshipman in the 
Confederate Navy, serving through 1861 and ’62. He continued in the 
service of the Confederate Army until its close, and the historian of his 
regiment classes him as among ‘‘the bravest of the brave.’’? From the 
latter part of 1862 he was a member of Company ‘‘ B,’’? 2d Virginia 


PROFESSOR ST. GEORGE TUCKER BROOKE 


136 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Cavalry; was thrice wounded in battle and was awarded the Confederate 
Cross of Honor for bravery in action. He evidently was a man of un- 
daunted courage and bravery. After the close of the Civil War he took 
the law course at the University of Virginia, graduating in the class of 
1869. The year he left the University he was admitted to practice as a 
member of the Craig County Bar, of Virginia. He only remained in that 
county a short time, and after a brief stay in Southwestern Virginia, he 
finally located permanently at Charlestown, Jefferson County, now West 
Virginia, where he conducted a profitable practice in the Virginia and 
West Virginia courts until 1878, when he was elected to the chair of Law 
and Equity of the West Virginia University at Morgantown, where he 
remained until 1909, when he retired under the Carnegie Foundation, having 
served ably and efficiently for upwards of thirty-one years. He was not 
only a learned lawyer, but he was gifted as a teacher, and was a most 
entertaining instructor. His retirement on account of failing health was 
a matter of general regret by the Board of Regents of the State University 
and by the people at large throughout the State, especially the hundreds 
of young lawyers who had received instructions in his recitation room. 
It has been often said, and perhaps correctly, that ‘‘teachers are born, 
not made,’’ and this was true of Professor Brooke. He was not only an 
erudite lawyer, but he knew how to impart his knowledge to others. 

He was in 1896 the author of a ‘‘Text Book on Common Law Practice 
and Pleading,’’ which was not only helpful to students of law, but was 
popular with those already engaged in regular practice. He also wrote 
a large number of legal, historical and geneological articles which were 
published in law journals and magazines in the different States. He was 
president of the West Virginia Bar Association in 1907-8, and was one 
of its founders, and for nearly a generation a regular attendant up to the 
time of his retirement from the University. Wake Forrest College honored 
itself as well as Professor Brooke by conferring upon him the degree of 
Doctor of Laws, and the same may be said of the West Virginia University 
for conferring upon him the degree of Master of Arts honoris causa. 

Dr. Brooke was a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church; was a 
Democrat in polities; was admitted as a member of the Bars of the different 
courts of the State, but never practiced after he entered the faculty of the 
West Virginia University. 

He was united in marriage with Miss Mary Harrison Brown, August 15, 
1882. Four children were the result of this union—two sons and two 
daughters, one of the daughters is deceased, the other three heirs are still 
in the flesh. Dr. Brooke was a member of the Delta Psi Greek letter 
traternity. After he retired from the faculty of the University he returned 
to his old home at Charles Town in Jefferson County, where he spent the 
remaining five years in literary work, principally preparing an autobiog- 
taphy of his successful and useful life, which will be published later. He 
quietly surrendered his trust and passed into the Great Beyond, May 16, 
1914, mourned by his many relatives and friends scattered over the two 
Virginias. He knew the law, and knew how to apply it. 


_ —— 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 137 


Judge H. C. Hervey 


Judge Hervey was the son of Hon. James Hervey, who, in his day, was 
a prominent lawyer of Brooke County. The Judge was born in the city of 
Wellsburg, in September, 1861, and was educated in the public schools of 
that city. He studied law under the supervision of his father, and was 
admitted as an attorney of the Brooke County Bar just after he reached 
his majority. He had not practiced law very long until he entered the 
political field and was twice elected Prosecuting Attorney of Brooke County 
on the Republican ticket by handsome majorities, and proved to be a 
strong prosecutor. 

Keen of mind and perspicuity Mr. Hervey was thought to be ideal 
timber for Judge of the Circuit Court; he was persuaded to run and was 
elected in 1894. At the next election of Circuit Judge, Judge Hervey was 
endorsed by the Democratic party and was elected, having no opposition. 
At the two succeeding elections no opposition appeared and he had the 
distinction of filling his exalted office as the choice of both political parties 
by whom he was loved and admired. 

He never married, but preferred home life with his two sisters in their 
beautiful old home at Wellsburg, where his spare hours were spent with 
his books. He was a great reader and student. These tendencies were 
inherited from his grandfather, the Keverend David Hervey, and his 
father, both omniverous readers of the highest grades of literature. 

His religious faith was Presbyterian, of which church he was a devout 
member and regularly attended the church in Wellsburg, where he taught a 
Bible class and also a teachers’ class. He was liberal in church and chari- 
ties and will be missed by the needy of his native town. 

When not on the Bench in his professional duties he was always at his 
home, for his love for home life amounted almost to idolatry. 

Judge Hervey was a born jurist, ‘‘ fitted by nature and by learning 
taught,’’ to weigh carefully and to value accurately questions of law and 
fact. A profound student, gifted with the ability to go quickly to the 
bottom of a subject, to analyze facts, and to give to them their proper 
value, he had also the calm judicial mind. He was never swayed by preju- 
dice nor by preconvinced opinions. He was never influenced by public 
clamor, nor by the itching for popular applause. The law was his guide; 
and justice was his aim. , 

In private life he was an admirable character. The strict attention that 
he gave to his work prevented him from taking much part in social 
affairs; but the friends whom he knew and loved he grappled to himself 
with bonds of steel. While never practicing nor permitting undue famil- 
iarity he was gentle and courteous in all his personal associations. 

Death unexpectedly called him September 4, 1918, just after his sun had 
reached its noon, and thus passed one among the ablest jurists West 
Virginia has thus far produced. 


138 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Judge Joseph T. Hoke, A.M., LL.B., LL.D. 


Our subject was born in Berkeley County, Virginia, February 6, 1835. 
He was educated at Rock River Seminary, Illinois, Oberlin College, Ohio, 
and Hillsdale College, Michigan, graduating A.B. from the latter in 1860. 
He decided upon the law as a profession, and accordingly entered the Law 
Department of Michigan University at Ann Arbor, graduating LL.B. in 
March, 1864. In the summer of that year he was admitted as a member 
of the Berkeley County Bar and began to practice. In 1864 he was elected 
Prosecuting Attorney of his native county, serving the Statutory Term 
in an efficient and satisfactory manner. He was a superior public speaker 
and, therefore, was a successful trial lawyer. For a time he was engaged 
in publishing a weekly newspaper at Martinsburg called The Berkeley 
Union. In 1866 he was elected to the State Senate of West Virginia, and 
was a valuable member, and in 1868 he was re-elected to the same office 
and served as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee. In 1869 he was 
appointed Judge of the Fifth Judicial Cireuit to fill an unexpired term of 
six years. He was a faithful, efficient and conscientious Judge. In this 
high position he served until January 1, 1873, when the newly adopted 
Constitution of the State became effective and terminated his official 
career. 

He was a Republican in politics, and was three times elected a delegate 
to the National Convention of his party (1868, 1872 and 1880). In 1880 
he was the candidate of the Republican party for a seat in Congress from 
the Second Congressional District, but was defeated. In 1886 he was 
elected to the West Virginia Legislature from Preston County, and was 
one of the most influential members of that body. In 1888 he was elected 
a Circuit Judge of the Third Judicial Circuit, and ably served for the full 
term of eight years. He then retired from the profession and was appointed 
United States Consul at St. John’s, New Brunswick, where he ended his 
useful career. J 

Judge Hoke was never classed as a great lawyer, but he was well 
grounded in legal principles. He was a success in the practice and was an 
honorable and upright Judge. His tastes ran to literature rather than to 
law. He was a master of pure English and delved no little in poetry. He 
wrote much for magazines, both in prose and poetry, and was regarded 
as a man of high literary merit, and was a profound scholar as well. His 
personal and public acts were spotless, and he was respected by all the 
people who knew him. Hillsdale College conferred upon him in 1870 the 
honorary degree of LL.D., an honor worthily bestowed. 

His remains were interred in the cemetery at Kingwood in the presence 
of a throng of admiring friends. ; 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 139 


Hon. Fredrick O. Blue 


Our subject, son of George F. and Mary Lee Blue, was born at Grafton, 
Taylor County, West Virginia, November 25, 1872, and received his early 
educational training in the public schools of Taylor County and later in 
the Grafton High School. This, however, was only the merest beginning 
of the education he afterwards secured by studious habits and persistent 
application to a systematic course of reading and study under his own 
direction. He never attended a college, but he acquired a splendid literary 
style, became a close logical reasoner, a sound thinker, and a superior 
public speaker. He is a master of a choice style of English, and argues 
propositions in a forceful, pleasing and fascinating manner. But few men 
are his equal as a trial lawyer or an all round advocate. He is kind and 
fair to every one concerned in a court trial, and yet at the same time he 
is so earnest and zealous in behalf of his own clients he becomes a dan- 
gerous competitor in any important court trial in which he is engaged; 
and yet but few lawyers adhere as strictly as he to all the rules of legal 
ethics. He is absolutely sincere, upright and trustworthy. He has for 
many years past been found on the moral side of every important question 
that has been brought before the people. Indeed this has been true of him 
from his early manhood. Such men are rare in any profession or calling. 

In private life Senator Blue is amiable and refined. Like Lord Chester- 
field he considers politeness the lubricator of society and to smooth the 
pathways of those he recognizes as the prime duty of man. He is a fond 
husband, a doting father, a devoted friend, and the golden chain is linked 
with the jewels of domestic felicity. He married Miss Margaret J. Ice, 
of Barbour County, November 26, 1905. They had two sons, one a prattling 
little boy who, a year or so ago, on account of a fatal illness, drew his 
chubby, little hand out of his father’s palm and flew away to the summer- 
land of song — the other, a young man, now completing his college work. 


Mr. Blue read law in the office of Judge A. G. Dayton at Philippi in 
Barbour County, where he was not only an apt, but a diligent student. 
When twenty-one years of age he passed a satisfactory examination and 
was admitted to the Bar of the Supreme Court of Appeals of the State at 
Charleston, in December, 1893. Immediately, thereafter, he opened an 
office at Philippi, the capital of Barbour County, and began an active and 
successful career as a practicing attorney. He has always been a Repub- 
lican in his political affiliations, and was elected a member of the West 
Virginia Senate, serving in that position from 1906 to 1910. In this posi- 
tion he revealed marked usefulness in legislative service. He was Chairman 
of two committees and was a member of six others. He was very active 
during sessions of the Legislature as well as very useful. 

Senator Blue was appointed State Tax Commissioner by Governor Daw- 
son, March 1, 1911, and held the office for six consecutive years. This is a 
position requiring a high grade of executive ability, and Mr. Blue filled it 


140 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


? “ 


with remarkable acceptability. Being a strong lawyer he personally rep- 
resented the State’s interests in hundreds of court trials in almost every 
portion of the State. When the voters threw West Virginia out of the 
““ wet column ’’ he was designated by the Legislature to enforce the 
‘- dry ’’ law, and he devoted his best energies to that important service. 
But few of our people know how zealously he labored to enforce the Pro- 
hibition Law and the amount of energy and toil he put into it. He, how- 
ever, never faltered, but did his full duty faithfully and heroically. He 
has written a book entitled, ‘‘ When a State Goes Dry,’’ which is well 
worth any one’s time to read and ponder over. Since he has retired from 
public life Senator Blue located at Charleston, has opened a law office 
in conjunction with Mr. Robert E. McCabe, a thorough-going young lawyer, 
a sketch of whom will be found on another page of this book, the firm 
name being Blue and McCabe, a busy and successful combination of 
enterprising attorneys. f 

Mr. Blue is a vigilant member of the Baptist Church and is a Free 
Mason of deserving high rank, and strives to live true to the ideals of that 
order. He is a forward-thinking man, broad and liberal in his views and 
thoroughly democratic in spirit. Though of a positive nature he disagrees 
with his opponents without rancor. He is devoted to his home and loves the 
evening communion of the family circle. He is an upright citizen, keenly 
devoted to the social welfare and the betterment of the human mass. It 
is by no means out of place to class him as an ideal lawyer and a true 


representative citizen. 


Judge Frank Cox, LL.B. 


The subject of this sketch, son of Henry L. and Elizabeth M. (Boydston) 
Cox, of Monongalia County, West Virginia, is one of the distinguished 
lawyers and jurists of the State. He is a native of Monongalia County 
and was born June 18, 1862, and is, therefore, in the prime of physical and 
mental manhood. He received a liberal education in the public schools — 
of his native county and at the West Virginia University, from which 
latter institution he graduated in the Law Department in the class of 1883. 
Almost immediately thereafter he was admitted as an attorney in the 
Circuit Court of Monongalia County, where he has since continuously 
practiced. Barring the two years that he served as an Associate Justice 
of the Supreme Court of Appeals of the State. From the outset his prac- 
tice was successful. He is an advocate of unusual foree and effectiveness 
and, therefore, ranks high as a trial lawyer. 

In 1888 he was elected Prosecuting Attorney of his native county, and 
served four years in that responsible position, in which he acquitted him- 
seif with credit as an able and faithful public servant. During his term as 
County Prosecutor he formed a law partnership with George C. Baker, who 
subsequently succeeded him in the office of Prosecuting Attorney of the 


JUDGE FRANK COX 


142 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


tr 


county, by whom he was appointed as his (Mr. Baker’s) Deputy, and as 
such he served another four years’ term. 

In 1904 Mr. Cox was elected by the Republicans a member of the 
Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, in which exalted judicial 
office he rendered faithful and satisfactory service for two years. Although 
he enjoyed the work of an Appellate Judge he had a longing to return to 
the Bar as an attorney, where the opportunities were, in a monetary sense, 
far greater than in a judicial office; consequently he resigned from the 
Court, returned to his home at Morgantown and re-established the law firm 
of Cox and Baker, which firm is still conducting a large and prosperous 
business in the State and Federal Courts. 

Judge Cox is not only a lawyer of merit and distinction, but he is also 
engaged in a number of local business enterprises and is a public spirited 
citizen, and is_active in the development of the resources and interests 
of the prosperous city in which he resides. He is a vigorous member of 
the Board of Trade of Morgantown; is a large owner of real estate; takes 
great interest in the educational development of the section where he 
resides, and was an active member of the Morgantown School Board for 
many years; served as Judge Advocate General during the administration 
ot Governor Atkinson; declined to accept the office of Circuit Court Judge 
to fill a vacancy, which was tendered to him by Governor Atkinson; was 
a member of the World’s Fair Commission in 1904; is a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, and is also a Mason and an Odd Fellow. 

He is a man of upright and blameless character and has acquitted himself 
honorably in all of the public positions he ever held. In all relations — 
in his family, at the Bar, in his friendships, and in his home community, 
he has ever been loyal, true, generous, charitable and considerate. He 
married Miss Mattie J. Weaver March 8, 1885, and they have been blessed 
with two children, a son and a daughter, and no happier home than theirs 
can anywhere be found. 


Judge Charles W. Lynch, A.M., LL.D. 


Charles W. Lynch is a native of Harrison County, West Virginia, and 
was born March 11, 1851. He was classically educated at the West Vir- 
ginia University, graduating therefrom in the class of 1874, with the 
degree of Bachelor of Arts. He engaged in school teaching for a few 
years, being Superintendent of the Public Schools at Burning Springs, 
Wirt County, and at Clarksburg in his native county. In 1877 his alma 
mater conferred upon him the degree of Master of Arts, pro merito. Mean- 
while he read law, and in 1882 was admitted to membership in the Harri- 
son County Bar. In politics he is a Republican, and was quite active in 
that organization for a number of years. He was elected to the House of 
Delegates from Harrison County in 1882 and again in 1890, and served the 
people faithfully. He was eight years Prosecuting Attorney of that county, 


. LYNCH, LL. D. 


E CHARLES 


x 


JUDG 


144 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


from 1885 to 1889 and 1893 to 1897, and discharged the duties of the office 
with ability and efficiency. Being a man of upright and blameless char- 
acter he never swerved from the line of duty nor showed fear or favor in 
any of his public acts, and consequently acquitted himself honorably in all 
the public positions he ever held. 

After a number of years in active practice at the Bars of his native and 
adjoining counties, and after establishing himself as a lawyer of pro- 
nounced experience and ability, he was elected Judge of the Judicial 
Circuit in which he resided, and ably filled the same for the full term of 
eight years. No predecessor in that responsible position ever filled the 
same more satisfactorily than he, and it was generally expected that he 
would be nominated and elected for a second term as Cireuit Judge; but 
before the Convention was held, unknown to and undesired by him, the 
State Judicial Convention assembled and nominated him as a candidate 
for an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals of the State, to 
which exalted position he was elected by the people for a term of twelve 
years. His many years of practice in the various State and Federal Courts, 
embracing all branches of the law, and his eight years experience on the 
Bench of the Circuit Court, thoroughly equipped him for the arduous duties 
of his present position, in which he is making an enviable record as an 
Appellate Judge. He is incorruptible. He is severely candid and is 
essentially just. His ability is unusual, and his life and achievements 
stamp him as a lawyer, jurist and a patriot of the highest grades. 

Judge Lynch is happily married and has one son, who is a graduate of 
three universities, and is ready to enter upon the practice of the profession 
which his distinguished father has so highly honored. 

The Judge is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church; is a Free 
Mason of high rank, and has been honored therein by being elected Grand 
Master of the State. He is President of the Board of Trustees of West 
Virginia Wesleyan College, from which institution he received in 1915 the 
honorary degree of Doctor of Laws. He is a man of the people and is highly 
respected by all who know him. 


Judge George Poffenbarger 


Our subject is one of the very able jurists West Virginia has produced. 
He is strong in both body and intellect and has proved himself capable 
of work almost unlimited. No Supreme Court Judge of this State has 
piled up a longer series of decisions that have stood the test of close 
serutiny and gone farther towards clarifying and settling the laws of 
West Virginia than Judge Poffenbarger, who is now serving his second 
term as one of the five Supreme Court Justices of this State. He is a born 
jurist, and has made, and is still making, a record which all well-meaning 


lawyers can and will point to with pride. 


JUDGE GEORGE POFFENBARGER 


146 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


4 


He is a native of Mason County, Virginia, and was born November 24, 
1861. He was brought up on a farm and attended the common schools; 
being naturally studious and industrious he acquired a fairly good common 
school education, which he supplemented by teaching for a period of seven 
years in the publie schools, and by continuous study in the privacy of his 
home. He subsequently took a course of study in Rio Grande College, 
Ohio, but did not graduate. For several years while a school teacher he 
devoted all his spare time to the study of legal text books, under the 
direction of Judge John W. English, of Point Pleasant, and in 1887 he was 
licensed as an attorney in the courts of Mason County. 

From early manhood Judge Poffenbarger showed a strong inclination 
towards politics, and in 1888 he was elected Sheriff of Mason County, 
which office he ecreditably filled for the term of four years. He is a force- 
ful public speaker, and also established a reputation as a political organizer 
of unusual capacity and strength. In the campaign of 1900 he was nomi- 
nated by the Republican party for a place on the Supreme Court of Appeals 
and was elected by the people to a twelve years’ term in the highest 
judicial position in the State; when his term expired he was renominated 
and re-elected without serious opposition to a second twelve years’ term, 
in which office he is still ably serving. 

From the beginning of his judicial career Judge Poffenbarger has been 
a persistent originator and advocate of reforms in Appellate Court pro- 
cedure. In 1903 the Court adopted the preliminary conference of judges 
upon every case submitted in advance of the preparation of the opinion 
at his suggestion, and it has been rigidly adhered to ever since. There is, 
therefore, no longer any possibility of a one judge decision in the court of 
last resort. Not long afterwards he urged a reduction of the time allowed 
for oral argument, from two hours and a half to one hour and a quarter. 
The rule was accordingly amended, but later rescinded. In 1913, however, 
it was again so amended and is now in force. In the same year, acting 
upon a suggestion made by him and previously considered in consultation 
with all the members of the court and several prominent members of the 
Kanawha County Bar, the Legislature amended and re-enacted section 20 of 
chapter 135 of the Code, so as to give the court complete control of its 
docket and enable it to regulate the submission of cases in accordance 
with its ability to decide them. This alteration of the statute, the reduc- 
tion of the time for oral argument, and the abolition of the Wheeling and 
Charles Town terms of the court, enabled that body to dispose of a vast 
accumulation of delayed business, and now enables it to keep entirely up 
with its business. He also suggested, drafted and contributed largely to 
the revision and amendment of sections 1, 5, 6 and 26 of chapter 135 of the 
Code, by virtue of which questions of process and pleading may be reviewed 
and settled by the Supreme Court of Appeals in the progress of litigation 
as they arise and before final judgment on certificates from the trial courts; 
applications for appeals and writs of error may be made on the original © 
papers, transcripts obtained when needed at greatly reduced cost, and 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 147 


C 


plain cases affirmed or reversed on motions made by leave of the court. 
All of these measures greatly facilitate the disposition of business and 
effect large reductions in costs. 

Judge Poffenbarger married Miss Livia Nye Simpson, of Point Pleasant, 
West Virginia, a woman of great ability and wonderful intellectual 
endowments and of exalted personal character. They have two sons, 
Nathan Simpson Poffenbarger and Perry Simpson Poffenbarger. They have 
a pleasant home at Point Pleasant, where they are respected and held in 
high esteem by the entire community. 


Hon. Benjamin Stanton 


Mr. Stanton was not only a lawyer of ability and prominence, but was a 
statesman and a leader in politics as well. His parents were Quakers. He 
was born at Mount Pleasant, Ohio, June 4, 1809, and died at Wheeling, 
West Virginia, June 2, 1872. He was reared on a farm and had the advan- 
tages only of the public schools to receive an early educational training. 
His real education was procured by the reading and study of books after 
the school period with him had ended. Like a large number of other dis- 
tinguished men he dug out an education after he attained manhood by 
constant study, application and persevering energy. Although he never 
attended a college or even an academy, no man can say that Benjamin 
Stanton was not a highly cultured man. He read law in the office of 
Stokely and Morris at Steubenville, Ohio, and was admitted to the Jeffer- 
son County, Ohio Bar, in the fall of 1833. In April, 1834, he removed his 
residence to Bellefontaine, Ohio, where he began active practice, and where 
he remained until 1866, when he became a resident of Wheeling, West 
Virginia. He became a leading lawyer and had a large practice for a 
quarter of a century while a resident of Ohio. 

In 1841 he was elected to the State Senate of Ohio, but prior to that he 
had served as Prosecuting Attorney of his county. In polities, before 
the Civil War, he was a Whig, but later he became an active Republican. 
He was re-elected to the Senate in 1842. In 1851 he formed a partnership 
at Bellefontaine with C. W. B. Allison, who was an able lawyer, under the 
firm name of Stanton & Allison, which firm continued in existence at 
Bellefontaine for fifteen years, and in 1866 they opened a law office at 
Wheeling, West Virginia, where they conducted a large business until Mr. 
Stanton’s death in 1872. In 1850 he was a member of the Constitutional 
Convention of Ohio. He was later elected a member of the Thirty-second 
Congress. He was not a member of the next Congress, but was re-elected 
in 1854, and served in Congress by successive re-elections until March 4, 
1861. He was a forceful and eloquent public speaker and took an active 
part in legislative debates. He was elected Lieutenant Governor of Ohio 
in 1862 on the ticket with Governor David Tod, serving two years. A con- 


148 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 

siderable number of Wheeling lawyers had participated in the Rebellion 
and were thereby inhibited from practicing, so Governor Stanton and his 
partner, Mr. Allison, in 1866, transferred their residence to Wheeling, and 
from the start had a very large practice. 

For native ability and power in debate Governor Stanton has rarely been 
excelled either in Ohio or West Virginia. He was a great trial lawyer, 
which was his specialty. His private character was above reproach, and 
in all the social relations of life, he enjoyed the warm friendship of all the 
people who knew him. He was kind hearted and generous, affable and 
courteous, and had hosts of friends, and was admired no less for his bril- 
liant talents than for his estimable qualities as a man. 


Judge Joseph Marcellus McWhorter 


Joseph Marcellus McWhorter was born at what was then known as 
MeWhorter’s Mills (Virginia), near what is now Jane Lew, Lewis County, 
West Virginia, April 30, 1828, and died at his home in Lewisburg, West 
Virginia, August 18, 1913. He was the eldest son of Fields and Margaret 
Kester McWhorter, and brother of Henry C. McWhorter, late Judge of the 
Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia. In addition to the training 
received at the publie schools he was a persistent and untiring reader of 
the best literature and acquired a good knowledge of the English branches 
of learning. He also taught school in his neighborhood during the winter 
season when he could be spared from the farm. , 

_ Judge McWhorter was always greatly interested in public affairs. In 
politics he was a Whig before the Civil War and later a staunch Repub- 
lican. In 1856 when Roane County was organized he was appointed County 
Clerk of that county, also acting as Circuit Clerk, and was later twice 
elected to the same office. On the formation of the State of West Virginia 
he was elected a member of the first Legislature from Roane County. After 
the adjournment of the Legislature the Governor appointed him Superin- 
tendent of the Penitentiary, but he soon resigned from this office. In 1864 
he was nominated by the Republican party and elected State Auditor, and 
was again elected to the same office in 1866. He was elected Seeretary of 
the West Virginia Insurance Company in 1869 and served until 1870, when 
Governor Stevenson appointed him Circuit Judge to fill the vacancy caused 
by the resignation of Judge Nathaniel Harrison. The Circuit was com- 
posed of Greenbrier, Monroe, Pocahontas and Nicholas Counties, and Judge 
MeWhorter moved from Wheeling to Lewisburg, where he resided until 
his death. His term as Judge expired December 31, 1872. After his 
retirement from the Bench he practiced his profession in Greenbrier and 
adjoining counties, and merited the respect and admiration of all the 
people. He was elected Mayor of Lewisburg in 1887, was County Super- 
intendent of Schools of Greenbrier County one term, and also served four 
years as Postmaster. In 1892 he was nominated by his party for Judge 
of the Supreme Court of Appeals, but with the rest of the ticket went 


ss. 


—— 


JUDGE J. M. McWHORTER 


150 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 
————— 

down to defeat. He was elected in 1896 as Judge of the Tenth Judicial 
Circuit and served the full term of eight years. From 1905 until his death 
he was actively engaged in the practice of law at Lewisburg. 

Judge McWhorter was twice married. His first wife was Julia A. Stal- 
naker of Harrison County, who died August 26, 1869. To them ten children 
were born, three of whom died in infancy. Those living are: Alessandro 
G., of Charleston; Artemus W., of Norfolk, Va.; Louis E., practicing attor- 
ney in Charleston; William B., of Charleston; Mrs. Margaret EH. Lewis, of 
Charleston; Joseph C., of St. Louis, Mo.; and Deecie, wife of C. L. Carr, 
of Lewisburg. On October 26, 1870, he married Julia A. Kinsley, daughter 
of Rev. Hiram and Elsie L. Kinsley, of Geneva, Ohio, and to them were 
born four children: Emma L., wife of R. B. Holt, of Lewisburg; Jennie 
P., deceased wife of J. Scott McWhorter, of Lewisburg; Kinsley F., died 
in infaney; and Charles N., of Charleston. 

Judge McWhorter’s reputation as a Christian gentleman was enviable. 
He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, at Lewisburg, 
and had religious convictions deep and abiding. As an honest, consistent 
Christian he walked uprightly, lived at peace with all men, and died at 
peace with his God. 


A tribute by L. E. McWhorter to his father, J. M. MeWhorter, and his 
unele, H. C. McWhorter. 

With the passing of Judge Joseph M. McWhorter and Judge Henry C. 
McWhorter the State of West Virginia lost two of its most valuable 
citizens. Reared in the old school of honesty and integrity both were 
model men of their generation. Their ideals being high were maintained 
throughout the more than three score years and ten allotted to them, and 
their characters and influence for good are indelibly stamped upon the 
communities in which they lived. The name of each was a synonym for 
honesty and righteousness. Their deeds of charity, kindness and benevyo- 
lence are legion, and all through busy lives they always had time to listen 
and heed the eall of distress. Men of their type are benedictions to the 
State, the family and the Church, and fortunate are those who ean claim 
the heritage from such ancestors. 


Judge William N. Miller, A.M. 


Our subject‘is a native of the State of Ohio, where he was born at 
Uniopolis, October 18, 1855. His parents were Charles W. and Sarah Ellen 
(Niswonger) Miller. He attended the public schools of his native State 
and later was graduated from Otterbein University in the class of 1879, 
receiving the classical degree of Bachelor of Arts, and in 1881 the higher 
degree of Master of Arts, pro merito. Shortly thereafter he moved to 
Parkersburg, West Virginia, and became a law student in the office of 
Wyman L. Cole, an able and successful lawyer of that city. After studying 


JUDGE WILLIAM N. MILLER 


152 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


legal text books, under the tutelage of Mr. Cole for nearly two years, he 
passed a creditable examination and was in 1882 admitted to the Wood 
County Bar. It was not long until Mr. Cole, who saw great promise in his 
young law student, invited him to become his partner in the practice of 
his profession, which he accepted, and the firm of Cole & Miller took high 
rank among the noted law firms of that distinguished Bar. He continued 
as the junior member of the firm for several years, until Mr. Cole moved 
to Washington, D. C., to join his brother, Charles C. Cole, in a larger field 
of opportunities than was then attainable in West Virginia. Mr. Miller, 
however, remained in the State, and being a young man of liberal educa- 
tion, of studious habits, and of upright life and character, forged forward, 
until he had gathered about him a large and profitable clientele, which 
kept on expanding until he was called by Governor Dawson, January 28, 
1907, to the position of an Associate Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeals 
of West Virginia, to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Judge 
Frank Cox, of Morgantown; and the following year his services on the 
highest court of the State being eminently satisfactory, he was nominated 
by the Republican party, of which he had been all his life an active mem- 
ber, as a candidate to fill out the unexpired term of Judge Cox, and he 
was thereto triumphantly elected by the people. ‘After serving eight years 
in this exalted position, in 1916 he was again placed in nomination by his 
political party by acclamation, and was elected by the people to the same 
position for the full term of twelve years, where he is now serving with 
great acceptability to both suitors and attorneys. 

During the ten or more years Judge Miller has been a member of this 
high court, he has demonstrated his splendid qualifications for the position. 
He is not only a just Judge, but he possesses, in a high degree, the judicial 
temperament. His opinions are clear, terse and logical, and he gives to 
every case careful and painstaking consideration. He married Miss Anna 
A. Bright, of Westerville, Ohio, September 3, 1883, and has one daughter. 
Judge Miller was appointed Judge Advocate General of the West Virginia 
National Guard by both Governor White and Governor Dawson. For 
fifteen years he was Treasurer of the West Virginia Bar Association. He 
is a member of the American Bar Association, the B. P. O. Elks, and of the 
Protestant Episcopal Church, is a public spirited citizen, and has the 
confidence and respect of all the people with whom he associates. 


Judge Francis Marion Reynolds 


Judge Reynolds’ grandfather, Cornelius Reynolds, emigrated from Lou- 
don County, Virginia, and was a pioneer settler near Pruntytown then in 
Harrison County. When his grandfather moved to that section, it was 
practically a wilderness and he had to clear the spot where he erected 
his first home. 

Judge Reynolds was born September 18, 1843, on the old homestead. 
After remaining on the farm with his father until 1862, and in the mean- 


JUDGE F. M. REYNOLDS 


154 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


y 


time attending during the winter months such schools as were then in 
that vicinity, he became a student at the old Monongalia Academy in 
Morgantown in the fall of 1862 and continued there until the summer of 
1864, when he commenced the study of law in the office of Judge Edward 
C. Bunker at Morgantown, and was admitted to the bar in 1865. He com- 
menced the practice of his profession at New Creek, then Hampshire 
County, now Mineral County, West Virginia, although he resided for a 
short time at Romney, the county seat of Hampshire County before the 
county of Mineral was established. He was married to Belle R. Hennen, 
eldest daughter of Washington and Justina Hennen, at Morgantown, in 
October, 1866. He has two sons and one daughter still living. 

His political support was given to the Republican Party from the time 
he east his first vote, which was for Abraham Lincoln as President in 1864. 
He was elected to the office of Prosecuting Attorney for Mineral County 
and served two terms of four years each. He also was, at the same time, 
Prosecuting Attorney of Mineral County; was elected Prosecuting Attorney 
of Grant County and continued to hold the latter office for three consecutive 
terms of four years each and was afterwards assistant to his law partner, 
L. J. Forman, as Prosecuting Attorney for three terms of four years each. 
He also served three terms as a member of the legislature of West Virginia, 
1895-96, 1901-02 and 1903-04, including the extra session of July, 1904, 
when the new tax system for West Virginia was adopted. During all of 
these terms he served at each session as Chairman of the Finance Com- 
mittee and was a member of the Judiciary Committee and also other 
committees; was chosen Republican nominee for Congress to represent the 
Second District of West Virginia in 1884, having William L. Wilson as his 
opponent, who was elected. In 1896 he was chosen as a delegate at large 
to the Republican National Convention, which met at St. Louis, and served 
on the Committee on Platform, and was one of a few members who at that 
time voted to put in the platform an unqualified declaration in favor of 
the single gold standard, which was shortly thereafter adopted by Congress. 
Tn 1890 he was the nominee of the Republican State Convention for Judge 
of the Supreme Court of Appeals against Daniel B. Lucas, and was defeated. 
He was chosen Mayor of the town of Keyser and filled this office efficiently; 
was also a member of the Common Council of the town, and a member 
of the Board- of Education; was appointed a member of the Board of 
Regents for the Deaf and Blind Schools at Romney, and was elected Presi- 
dent of that Board in 1897, and continued in that position until elected 
Judge of the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit at the election of 1904, and he was 
again re-elected in 1912 to serve a second term of eight years and continues 
in that service at the present time. 

Among the financial institutions and other business corporations with 
which Judge Reynolds is connected was the Keyser bank, of which he was 
elected President in 1887, and continued to hold that position until the 
bank was succeeded by the First National Bank of Keyser, and he was 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 155 


then elected President of the latter, and still continues to hold that position. 
He has been President of the Keyser Electric Light Company ever since 
it commenced business in 1894, is President of the Piedmont Grocery 
Company, and a Director in the Potomac Milling & Ice Company and the 
Siever Hardware Company. 

He became a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1871, and 
has been an official member of that organization ever since; was chosen 
Superintendent of the Sunday School the same year, and has been re-elected 
to that position ever since, holding the office for forty-eight years. 

He is an able lawyer and a just and upright Judge. Through a long, 
useful and successful life, no stain of dishonor was ever connected with 
his name. 


Hon. Jonathan McCally Bennett 


The County of Lewis, the Town of Weston, and the State of West 
Virginia lost a friend and valuable citizen when the Honorable J. M. 
Bennett died October 28, 1887. He was born October 4, 1816, on the farm 
in Lewis County that had belonged to the family a century, and which he 
owned at his death. He was the youngest child of William and Rebecca 
(McCally) Bennett. The grandfather, Joseph Bennett, came from Scotland 
to Augusta County, Virginia, before the Revolutionary War; his son, 
William, moved to Lewis County in 1800, where he resided on his valuable 
tract of land and died in 1857. 

Jonathan M. Bennett married Margaret Elizabeth Jackson, daughter of 
Captain George W. Jackson, a soldier of 1812; she was a cousin of ‘‘ Stone- 
wall ’’ Jackson, who was a lifelong intimate friend and protege of the 
subject of this sketch. 

Mr. Bennett was deservedly popular with his people and bore a dis- 
tinguished reputation throughout the old Commonwealth as well as in the 
new. Before the State was separated he was Deputy Sheriff of Lewis 
County, 1836-38, when he was appointed Deputy Clerk of both the County 
and Circuit Courts, holding the position several years. In 1843 he was 
admitted to the Bar, and practiced as partner of Gideon D. Camden until 
the latter was elevated to the Bench in 1852. Mr. Bennett was the first 
Commonwealth’s Attorney for Gilmer County, and the first Mayor of 
Weston, in 1846. After filling various county commissions, in 1852-3 he 
was a member of the Virginia General Assembly from Lewis County; in 
1853 was President of the Exchange Bank of Virginia at Weston; was 
First Auditor of Virginia from 1857 to 1865; he was before the Democratic 
Convention for the Congressional nomination in 1858, but Albert G. Jenkins 
was nominated on a close vote. 

Mr. Bennett went with his State in its secession, and during the war 
filled important positions at Richmond. When peace came, he resumed his 
law practice at Weston. He was in the West Virginia Senate from 1872 


156 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


to 1876, and was Chairman of the Committee on Finance. He was also 
one of the three Commissioners to adjust with Virginia the proportions of 
the State debt due by each State. He filled minor positions for the new 
State, always with satisfaction and credit. A hard student, a painstaking 
official, a business man of strict integrity, a zealous, public-spirited citizen, 
a kind neighbor, a loving husband and father — such acknowledged charac- 
teristics are blocks in his monument ‘‘more enduring than brass.’’ Mr. 
Bennett was made an Odd Fellow in 1850. He was a Demoerat in polities, 
and for many years was recognized as among the strongest lawyers in the 
central portion of West Virginia. 


Hon. James Dallas Ewing 


Our subject was well known to the present generation of lawyers in the 
‘Northern Pan Handle’’ of West Virginia; he was a son of William Ewing, 
of Marshall County, Virginia, and was born September 19, 1832, on the 
farm known as ‘‘Fairhill,’’ which had been the Ewing family homestead 
since 1795. He remained there, working on the farm and teaching school, 
until he reached his majority. He possessed a strong and rugged intellect, 
and desired better things than farming and teaching school; so he deter- 
mined to be a lawyer. His education had been meager, but he concluded 
that he, by hard study, application, energy and grit, could overcome that 
embarrassment, and so he went at it, ‘‘hammer and tongs,’’ and stayed 
‘fon the job’’ until he succeeded grandly. He took up the study of law 
under Wylie H. Oldham, a leading lawyer of Marshall County, and worked 
at it heroically until 1858, when he was licensed, and was admitted to the 
Moundsville Bar. Being practically compelled to suspend practice for a 
time on account of the War of the Rebellion, he engaged in mercantile 
pursuits for a couple of years, and then opened a law office in Moundsyille. 
Business came to him better than he had thought, or had even dreamed of. 
He had all the legal work he could attend to, and more. He also practiced 
in the adjoining county of Wetzel, where he had a considerable volume of 
business. He rapidly gained confidence in his abilities as a lawyer, so he 
transferred his residence to Wheeling, twelve miles distant, where the 
opportunities for an ambitious lawyer were better and the field was broader. 
His business increased rapidly, and he possessed the knowledge and ability 
to handle it successfully. He kept on growing as a lawyer and his business 
grew likewise. Ability and business moved pari passu. They always do. 

He practiced alone for several years, but his clientage justified it, and 
so he associated General T. S. Riley with him, under the firm name of 
Ewing and Riley. Business kept on inereasing, and Judge Thayer Melvin 
was added, under the firm name of Ewing, Melvin and Riley, all of them 
able lawyers. The firm, therefore, became one of the strongest in the 
northern part of the State, and carried on a vast business. Their business 
embraced every branch of the law in all the State and Federal courts. 


JAMES DALLAS EWING 


158 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


ee 


Mr. Ewing was not endowed with the highest gifts of eloquence, but at 
the same time he was a superior trial lawyer. He was eloquent in the 
depths of his convictions, in the earnestness of his manner, in the logical 
train of his thoughts, in the force and power of his language and in the 
moral makeup of the man. His arguments were always clear, logical and 
concise; his oratory was more like the blows of a sledge-hammer than that 
Ciceronian gentleness which glides upon the waves of conciliation. He 
depended upon the rod of reason rather than upon the wand of suasion. 
He possessed a keen sense of humor and was open and generous in all his 
dealings, punctilious in the discharge of his duties to his clients, resolute 
in the prosecution of every undertaking and was all that Horace meant 
by his justus et tenax propositi vir. He walked through the world in the 
path of duty and conscious rectitude, and in the faith of piety, down to 
the brink of the valley, and when he stepped forth into its shadows, he, 
no doubt, caught the promised visions which flash from the blessings of 
the faithful servant in a well spent life. 

Mr. Ewing was a Democrat, but never a politician. He never sought an 
office, and only a time or so did he allow himself to be drafted as a candi- 
date. He married Miss Emma Anderson, of New Martinsville, West Vir- 
ginia, by whom he had ten children, one of them — James W. Ewing — who 
is a distinguished member of the Wheeling Bar, who is treated in another 
portion of this volume. He passed to the unseen, August 30, 1898, at his 
home in the city of Wheeling, and was mourned by a large circle of 
admiring friends. 


Hon. William Pallister Hubbard, A.M. 


The Hubbard family of Wheeling is one of the oldest and most distin- 
guished families in the State of West Virginia. Dana Hubbard, the pioneer 
manufacturer of Ohio County, came from Connecticut in 1819 and settled 
in Wheeling. He erected a saw and grist mill and engaged in the lumber 
business. He died in 1852. He had five children, three of whom became 
business men of prominence and large means and influence, viz.: Chester D., 
Henry B. and John R. Hubbard. Chester D. Hubbard, the father of our 
subject, for more than fifty years was one of the most influential, pro- 
gressive business men of Ohio County, and at the same time he was a 
leader in the civie development of that section of the State. He was also 
prominent in the political, educational and religious growth of the entire 
State. He was a leader in the formation of West Virginia; was twice 
elected a Member of Congress; was one of the builders of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church in West Virginia and was twice elected a Delegate to its 
General Conference. He died full of honors in 1891. 

The subject of this sketch was the eldest son of Hon. Chester D. Hubbard, 
who was born in the city of Wheeling, December 24, 1843. He was educated 
in the schools of his native county and at Linsly Institute, a high grade 


HON. WILLIAM P. HUBBARD 


160 Bench and Bar of West Virginia . 


academy of the city of Wheeling. Later he matriculated as a student of 
Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, and in 1863 was one of its 
honored graduates, as had been his father, and afterwards was his son, 
Nelson C. Hubbard, who is a prominent lawyer in the city of Wheeling. 
After completing his college work, W. P. Hubbard returned to his native 
city, read law and was admitted to the Ohio County Bar in 1864. During 
the year 1865 he served in the Third West Virginia Cavalry until the close 
of the Civil War, volunteering as a private and being honorably discharged 
as first lieutenant. Immediately thereafter he opened a law office in Wheel- 
ing and entered upon one of the most honorable and noted careers as a 
practitioner of the law that the State of West Virginia has ever produced. 
His practice extended into all the West Virginia courts, the courts of 
Western Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio, and also the Supreme Court of 
the United States. His force of will, self-reliance and courage are much 
more than common. In whatever duty he enters he throws his strong 
personality and he never fails when he ought to succeed. He fears no 
antagonist and was unfaithful to no client. He declined judicial honors 
because he thought himself better fitted for the Bar, and there found work 
more-to his taste and liking, just as honorable as that on the Bench, not 
to say more profitable. Personally he has a side of geniality and sociability, 
which on some oceasions has to be discovered, but when found is stimulating 
and refreshing. As an advocate he is gifted with unusual logical powers 
and a faculty of expression remarkably lucid. His diction is of a kind 
such as to present to the minds of his hearers the argument as clearly as 
he sees it in his own mind. As an all round lawyer he is thorough and 
accurate and has a wide grasp of legal principles. 

From 1866 to 1870 Mr. Hubbard was Clerk of the West Virginia House of 
Delegates, and the State never had a more efficient one; in 1881-2 he rep- 
resented Ohio County in the West Virginia Legislature; in 1888 he was a 
Delegate to the Republican National Convention; that year he was his 
party ’s nominee for Attorney-General of the State and was defeated along 
with the other candidates of his party; in 1890 he was the unsuccessful 
Republican candidate for Congress from the Wheeling district; in 1902-3 
he rendered valuable service as Chairman of the commission to revise the 
tax laws of West Virginia; in 1906 he was nominated and elected a Member 
of Congress from the Wheeling district, and was re-elected two years later. 
He declined to be a candidate for a third term, and again resumed the 
practice of the law with his son, Nelson C. Hubbard, as junior member of 
the firm of Hubbard and Hubbard, one of the ablest law firms of the entire 
State. In 1912 he was again a delegate-at-large to the Republican National 
Convention. 

Mr. Hubbard married Miss Anna E. Chamberlin, of Louisiana, May 21, 
1868. Five children were born to them—Julia P., who married W. I. 
Kelly; Nelson C., who, as before stated, is an attorney in partnership with 
his father; Alma R.; Louise P., who married Rev. W. E. Hudson; and Sarah 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 161 


P., who died in infancy. The wife and mother departed this life in 1901. 
The family home is on the old National Pike, east of Wheeling, just outside 
the city limits. 

Mr. Hubbard was one of the organizers of the West Virginia Bar Asso- 
ciation, is one of its most faithful members and was its President in 1895. 
During the last few years the large business of the firm has been handled 
almost entirely by the junior member of the partnership, although the 
senior member is in robust health and is in the full possession of all his 
powerful faculties. 


Col. William H. Hogeman 


Colonel Hogeman was born in the city of New York, December 20, 1845, 
and after receiving a liberal English education, studied law and was 
admitted to the Bar by the New York Supreme Court, December 16, 1867, 
soon after attaining his majority. A short time previous to his admission 
to the Bar he made a business trip to the Kanawha Valley of West Vir- 
ginia, and being pleased with the people and country, settled in Charleston 
and began the practice of law. He was eminently successful, and soon 
acquired a State reputation as a lawyer and a man of general business 
ability. He took an active interest in all the political movements in the 
State, though never holding and never seeking political office. Governor 
John J. Jacob made him one of his aides-de-camp with the rank of Colonel, 
which honor was contined by Governors Mathews and Jackson. . 

In 1870 Colonel Hogeman was appointed general counsel for the Chesa- 
peake and Ohio Railroad Company, and was so continued until his death, 
which occurred at his home in Charleston, after a short illness, on the 
5th day of January, 1885. The fatal illness, it was supposed, was super- 
induced by his labors and exposure by travel on necessary railroad duties. 
He was small of stature but compactly built, giving promise of a long and 
useful life. He was not only a sound and thoroughly equipped lawyer in 
the science of pleading, but an accomplished and successful advocate. In 
social life it was remarked of him that few men coming from a distant 
and distinctly different State more thoroughly and quickly became identified 
with a new people in their sympathies and interests than he did. 

Colonel Hogeman married Miss Anastein Ruffner of Charleston, daughter 
of the late Colonel James Ruffner, and sister of Andrew and Meredith 
Ruffner, distinguished merchants of that city. She with two children were 
left to mourn their bereavement. But few men in West Virginia achieved 
a more distinguished legal reputation than did Colonel William H. Hogeman. 


6 


162 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Judge Henry Clay McWhorter, LL.D. 


The writer knew Judge McWhorter intimately for more than a generation, 
and is therefore competent to pass upon his merits and qualifications as a 
citizen, a lawyer and a jurist. He was the son of Fields and Margaret M. 
(Kester) MeWhorter, and was born in Marion County, Ohio, February 20, 
1836, and came with his parents to Roane County, Virginia, in early life. 
He lived on a farm until he was eighteen years of age; was a clerk in 
a drug store for a short time and was afterwards appointed Deputy Clerk 
of the County and Circuit Courts of Roane County, which office he held until 
the breaking out of the Civil War, when he volunteered as a private soldier 
in the 9th West Virginia infantry. He was later promoted to First Lieuten- 
ant and finally he became Captain of his company. On account of a severe 
gunshot wound in his right leg, received in battle in 1863, he was trans- 
ferred to the Provost Marshal’s Department, where he remained until the 
close of the war. 

He then located at Charleston and took up the study of law, and after 
his admission to the Kanawha County Bar he was nominated by the Repub- 
lican party in 1870 and was elected by the people to the office of Prosecuting 
Attorney of Kanawha County, in which office he served faithfully and 
efficiently for a term of four years. He was a member of the Legislature of 
the State in 1865, ’66, ’67 and ’68, in which latter year he was Speaker of 
the House of Delegates, fulfilling its onerous and intricate duties in a 
satisfactory manner. Again, he served as a member of the Legislature from 
Kanawha County from 1885 to 1887. In 1888 he was the candidate of the 
Republican party for Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeals and was 
defeated along with all the other candidates of his party. 

He was a useful member of the Methodist Episcopal Chureh for prac- 
tically his entire life; was twice a member of the General Conference of 
that Church; was a member of the Masonic Fraternity and Grand Army of 
the Republic and Loyal Legion; was a member of the Board of Education 
and also of the City Council of Charleston; was President of the Board 
of Trustees of West Virginia Wesleyan College for many years prior to and 
at the time of his death; was Postmaster of the city of Charleston for 
three years and was elected an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of 
Appeals of West Virginia and served faithfully and efficiently for a full 
term of twelve years, and declined to be a candidate for re-election. He was 
happily married four times, and no one enjoyed home life more than he. 

Judge McWhorter was affable in manner, modest and unassuming, with 
ready sympathies, a keen sense of humor and refined and cultured taste in 
literature. In all relations, in his family, at the Bar, on the Bench, in his 
friendships, he was loyal, upright and generous, and above all he was not 
only a just Judge, but in all his dealings he was a man of blameless life 
and unblemished personal character. 

A few years before his death the West Virginia Wesleyan College con- 
ferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws, an honor most 


JUDGE HENRY C. McWHORTER 


164 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


deserved and most generously bestowed. In 1905 Judge McWhorter was 
one of the Electors ef the Hall of Fame, Syracuse University. 

In the dawning of the morning of the 15th day of April, 1913, and before 
the sun had fairly risen, God’s finger touched him and he slept. He is 
missed in his home life, missed by his family and friends, missed by the 
State at large, as an honorable and useful citizen. 


Hon. George Warwick McClintic, A.B., LL.B. 


George W. McClintic, son of William H. and Mary Mathews McClintie, 
was born in Pocahontas County, West Virginia, January 14, 1866. He was 
graduated from Roanoke College at Salem, Virginia, in 1883, receiving the 
classical degree of Bachelor of Arts. He then entered the law department 
of the University of Virginia at Charlottesville, and was graduated there- 
from in the class of 1886 with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He returned 
to his native county and in the early part of the next year (1887) was 
admitted to the Bar of the Cireuit Court of Pocahontas County. October 1, 
1888, he located at Charleston, Kanawha County, and enterd upon the 
practice of the law as the junior member of the firm of Mollohan and 
McClintic,— Wesley Mollahan, an able and well-known attorney, being the 
senior member of the partnership. In 1900 William Gordon Mathews was 
added to the firm. In 1911 Mr. Mollohan died, and later the firm became 
McClintic, Mathews and Campbell, Mr. John Edgar Campbell being the 
junior member of the partnership as it now stands. Mr. McClintic, there- 
fore, is now the senior member of one of the most noted law firms within 
the entire Commonwealth. His firm has specialized in land litigations, cor- , 
porations and constitutional controversies, and at the same time practices 
in all the varied branches of the law in all the State and Federal courts 
within the State and also in the Supreme Court of the United States; and 
we may add, handles a large volume of important legal business. 

Mr. McClintie owes his success at the Bar largely to his laborious prep- 
aration of his cases. He is thoroughly grounded in the fundamental prin- 
ciples of the law, and by indefatigable industry avails himself of his 
knowledge and resources. The accuracy of his pleadings, his uniform 
urbanity and simplicity of manners, his fidelity to his clients and the force 
of character which he brings to bear upon his causes, all contribute to his 
popularity and success. He possesses promptness, energy and decision, 
which coupled with love of justice and fair dealing, have placed him among 
the high grade members of the profession in the State. His rank as a 
member of the Bar of the State, therefore, is flrmly established. 

He was united in marriage with Miss Ethel Knight, of Charleston, 
daughter of the late Hon. Edward B. Knight, an eminent member of the 
Kanawha Bar, October 17, 1907. They have one child, Elizabeth Knight 
McClintic. Their home life is ideal, and among their friends they are 
always social, joyous and happy. They are Presbyterians in faith, and 
enjoy the confidence and respect of a large circle of admiring friends. 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 165 
ee Se 
Mr. McClintie is ‘‘high up’’ in the Masonic Fraternity, having filled, 
with distinction, the exalted position of Most Worshipful Grand Master . 
of the Grand Loage of West Virginia in 1905-6, whose annual sessions he 
never fails to attend, unless something of unusual importance intervenes to 
prevent. 

He is a Republican in polities, but has never sought an office of any kind; - 
except he was Solicitor of the city of Charleston for a full term and was 
a valuable official. Said office, however, is in the line of his profession. He 
was made the candidate of his party for membership in the West Virginia 
Legislature in June, 1918, without his seeking, and was elected by an unusual 
majority by the voters of his county. 


Hon. David Edwin French 


Senator French, son of Henley Chapman and Harriet (Hasley) French, 
was born in Giles County, Virginia, July 26, 1871, and was educated in 
the public schools and at the Pearisburg Academy, an institution of high 
grade at the seat of justice of Giles County, where he took a complete 
course. Its curriculum was equal to the average second grade colleges of 
that period in the Southern States. Early in life Mr. French exhibited an 
aptitude for study in acquiring knowledge, which he has kept up to this 
day. He is a constant reader of books, not only pertaining to the law, but 
on general subjects also, which make up the full and well-rounded mind of 
a successful lawyer. Of all the varied characters of men there is no one 
whose traits are wrought to a higher standard of excellence than that of a 
truly learned member of the legal profession. An attorney who thoroughly 
understands legal principles and knows how to correctly apply them is not 
only sure of success, if he adhere closely to his calling, but he is helpful 
to the courts in enforcing the law correctly and in raising the standard of 
other practitioners to a higher and a broader conception of the duties of 
members of the profession with whom he is associated. Strong Bars never 
fail to make strong Judges, and strong Judges invariably raise the standard 
of the Bars over which they preside. Learning and integrity in any calling 
reflect their light upon society, penetrate the dark confines of depravity, 
which is constantly showing its varied forms in the criminal side of our 
court trials, and present a guidance and a light, so to speak, of rectitude 
for the future. Law, as we understand it, is right, and the lawyer, as well 
as the just Judge will see to it that the right shall and must prevail in 
every court trial. Hence the necessity of thorough training on the part 
of every member of the legal fraternity in this and in all other countries. 

We have offered these general remarks for the purpose of stating that 
Senator French is a lawyer of fine ability and thoroughly acquainted with 
the history and character of our Virginia jurisprudence, and is never at a 
loss for the proper methods of reaching the true issues in a controversy 
and rarely errs in the selection of his legal standpoints. He is, therefore, 


166 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


a safe counselor and possesses the confidence of both Bench and Bar. 
Necessarily he does not lack a paying and profitable clientage. Souna 
lawyers, who are upright and just never are short of business, we think, 
may be stated as a truism. 

Senator French is a Democrat, and, so far as the writer knows, has 
always been of that faith. He was admitted to the Giles County, Virginia, 
Bar in May, 1895, and has devoted the greater part of his time to his 
profession. Soon after his admission as an attorney he located at Welch, 
in McDowell County, West Virginia, and moved to Bluefield, Mercer County, 
in 1905, where he now resides and has gathered about him a large body of 
admiring and profitable clients. His practice is general and extends to the 
adjoining counties and in all the State and Federal courts. He was City 
Attorney of Bluefield from 1908 to 1915, and was elected to the State Senate 
of West Virginia as a representative of the 7th District in 1910, and served 
with dignity and ability the full term of four years, taking an active part 
in all the legislatve debates. 

November 15, 1899, he was united in marriage with Miss Minnie Reid of 
Athens, West Virginia. Five children resulted from this marriage. Their 
home is in the city of Bluefield, the metropolis of the extreme southern 
border of the State. 


Hon Fred. Lee Fox, LL.B. 


One of the well-known and very successful law firms in the central part 
of West Virginia is composed of Hon. William Edgar Haymond and the 
subject of this sketch. Both of them are natives of Braxton County, and 
their practice extends into all the surrounding counties. Mr. Fox, the junior 
member of the firm, was born October 24, 1876, and is the son of Camden 
and Caroline McMorrow Fox, who resided at the mouth of Birch River. 
His primary education was received in the schools of Braxton County and 
later at the West Virginia University, from which he graduated in 1899 
with the degree of LL.B. Immediately after his graduation he was admit- 
ted as an attorney of the Braxton County Bar and later became a member 
of the firm of Dulin and Fox, remaining therein for three years. Im 1904 
he became an associate of the Hon. William E. Haymond, and as stated 
above, is still a member of said energetic and successful firm of practitioners. 
Their practice embraces all general and civie lines of the law in both State 
and United States Courts in Braxton and adjoining counties, including the 
Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, and it is but just to say that 
they have a large and profitable clientage, which is inereasing as the 
years roll by. 

For a number of years our subject has been quite active in politics. For 
ten or more years he acted as Chairman of the Democratic Executive Com- 
mittee of Braxton County, in which position he proved to be a successful 
leader and organizer. His first political office was that of State Senator, 
to which he was elected by the people in 1912, and was re-elected in 1916, in 


HON. FRED L. FOX 


168 Bench and Bar of. West Virginia 


which highly honorable and important position he is now serving with 
distinction and great acceptability to his constituents. Almost from his 
entry in the Senate his ability and tact made him the acknowledged floor 
leader of his party in that legislative body. He is a superior public 
speaker, a ready debater and a safe and sane leader. It is entirely safe 
for us to predict that there are higher honors in store for him in the 
future, if his life should be spared, and it is to be hoped that it will. 

Mr. Fox married Miss Annie Lee Frame, of Sutton, the seat of justice of 
Braxton County, and they are the parents of five children. He is a 
member of the Sutton Masonic Lodge, Chapter and Commandery and is 
also'a member of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine of the city of Charleston. 
He is of medium stature, of agreeable and pleasant disposition and is 
popular with the people. He possesses not only the elements of a successful 
lawyer, but a winner in politics as well. The writer is impressed with the 
belief that our subject, as a State Senator, is cutting the grooves that will 
earry him to higher political advancement in the future. 


Judge Reese Blizzard 


Judge Blizzard, one of West Verginia’s noted attorneys and jurists, who 
has been a resident of the city of Parkersburg for a great many years, 
engaged in active and successful practice, is a native of Nicholas County, 
West Virginia, where he was born October 17, 1865. His parents were 
James and Elizabeth Blizzard of that county, who subsequently moved to 
Gilmer County, where the subject of this sketch attended the public schools 
and was later graduated from the Glenville State Normal School. After 
graduation he engaged in teaching in the public schools of Gilmer and 
Calhoun counties in which he was quite successful. After following this 
profession for several years he took up the study of law in the office of 
Linn and Withers at Glenville and was admitted to the Bar of that county. 
He subsequently located at Grantsville, Calhoun County, where he opened 
an office and began what soon turned out to be a very lucrative practice. 
He possessed, in a large degree, energy, force of will and tenacity of purpose 
to win. He was found in his law office early and late, went to the bed- 
rocks of his cases, and when he appeared in court he knew the law and 
tried them successfully, in most instances; consequently, in a remarkably 
short time he made a reputation as an unusually successful young lawyer. 
In the meantime his business kept on expanding. 

The Republican party, to which he belongs, nominated him for Judge of 
the Circuit Court in a Democratic district and he was elected, after a 
heated contest, and filled the position creditably and ably. At the end of 
four years he resigned and opened an office in the city of Parkersburg, 
where he, in a short time, built up a large practice. Shortly after he 
located at Parkersburg he was appointed United States District Attorney 
for the Northern District of West Virginia, which office he ably filled for 
ten years. 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 169 


His force of will, self-reliance and courage are more than common. From 
the beginning he had no assistance and really wanted none. In whatever 
duty he entered he threw his strong personality. He likes everybody and 
is owned by none. If there is such a personage as a ‘‘self-made man’’ 
Judge Blizzard is that one. He mapped out his own career and won out 
grandly. He is not only an able lawyer, but he is a leader in civic matters. 
He is a farmer and stock raiser, specially of fine bred horses, and for a 
number of years he has been president of a successful banking institution 
in the city of Parkersburg. He has been twice married and has seven 
children. He has always been a Republican in politics. He helps every 
one who needs help and seeks for himself the help of none. Hs is one man 
who ‘‘paddles his own canoe.’’ 


Judge Samuel C. Burdett 


Judge Burdett was born September 23, 1848, in Scioto County, Ohio, and 
was moved by his parents to Ironton, Ohio, when he was an infant. He 
received a fair English education in that city, which he supplemented by 
the study and reading of proper books through all the years that followed. 
He was at all times an untiring student, and in this manner he pieced out 
an education above the average lawyer of his day. He learned the art of 
a decorator and painter under his father and became an expert in that 
business. He was, however, ambitious for other things in life, and from 
early youth he was determined, some day, to become a lawyer, and finally 
began a systemmatic course of reading legal textbooks, until he was able 
to pass the statutory examination for license to practice. Having located 
at Charleston, West Virginia, he was admitted to the Kanawha County 
Bar in 1870. His rapid advancement followed, as he soon demonstrated his 
ability, especially in the criminal practice, and as such, for many years, 
he has been regarded as one of the ablest and most successful criminal 
lawyers in the entire State. As a natural orator and advocate but few 
attorneys are comparable with him. 

In 1884 he was first elected Prosecuting Attorney of Kanawha County, 
and was subsequently re-elected and served until 1889. 

He was Assistant United States District Attorney under two Presidents. 
His private business had grown to such proportions that he resigned and 
devoted all his time to his private practice. He was elected Judge of the 
Cireuit Court of Kanawha and Clay Counties and served ably and satis- 
factorily for the full term of eight years. As Circuit Judge his clear and 
practical decisions are proofs of his legal attainments, and his sound judg- 
ments as a jurist. After retiring from the judiciary he resumed practice 
at the Kanawha County Bar. His health, however, for several years past 
has been quite feeble, which has materially hampered him in his pro- 
fessional work. 


170 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Judge Burdett has been twice married and has several sons and daughters 
who are residents of Charleston. He is a very prominent factor in Repub- 
lican politics and has no superior as a campaign orator in the entire State — 
Republican or Democrat. As a man of unusual brillianey his rank is high 
among his contemporaries. 


Judge John L. Whitten, LL.M. 


Judge Whitten was born on a farm in Mason County, Virginia, February 
5, 1861, and is a son of John W. and Melinda A. Whitten; was educated in 
the common schools and attended normal school at Point Pleasant, West 
Virginia, and Lebanon, Ohio; received his legal education at Georgetown 
University, Washington, D. C., from which school he graduated in 1891, 
receiving the degree of Master of Laws. He was admitted to the Bar in 
1883 at Point Pleasant, West Virginia, but did not begin active practice 
until after his graduation in 1891. He has had an extensive and general 
practice in the State and Federal courts. 

His first public office was that of County Superintendent of Free Schools 
of Mason County, to which office he was elected in 1883 and re-elected in 
1885; was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Mason County in 1896 and 
re-elected in 1900, being the only Prosecutor who has ever succeeded 
himself in Mason County; resigned that office to accept the appointment 
of Judge of the Circuit Court of the old Seventh Circuit, composed of the 
counties of Mason, Putnam and Kanawha, succeeding the late Judge F. A. 
Guthrie; Referee in Bankruptcy of the counties of Mason, Jackson, Putnam 
and Roane for ten years and resigned that office upon moving to Huntington, 
West Virginia, in November, 1916. 

He was a Republican candidate for the nomination for the office of 
Attorney-General in 1916, but was defeated. Since that time he has been 
actively and successfully engaged in the practice of his profession in the 
city of Huntington, West Virginia. 

He belongs to the Knights of Pythias and I. O. O. F. societies and is a 
member of the Baptist Church. 

While Judge of the Cireuit Court he tried many important cases, a 
number of which were appealed to the Supreme Court of this State, but he 
was not reversed in any of them, all of his decisions being affirmed; neither 
were any appeals taken from his rulings while Referee in Bankruptcy. 

He married Mary R. Gwinn, a daughter of Henry Gwinn, a large farmer 
of Mason County, on the 18th of April, 1888. To this union five children 
were born, namely: Major R. G. Whitten, now located in Washington, D. C.; 
Ann Whitten Vogel, residing at Boston, Massachusetts; John Lamar Whit- 
ten, Jr., a student at the Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland; Lynda 
Whitten and Othniel Edward Whitten, who reside with their parents at 
524 Fifth Street, Huntington, West Virginia. 

Judge Whitten’s career as lawyer, Judge and citizen is difficult to 
parallel or surpass. Better than all, he has always lived a moral, upright 
life. 


JUDGE JOHN L. WHITTEN 


172 | Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Judge James Henry Miller 


But few, if any, men in the southern portion of West Virginia are better 
known or have had a more successful and varied career than the subject 
of this sketch. He was born at Green Sulphur Springs, Greenbrier County, 
Virginia, December 29, 1856. His parents’ names were William Erskine 
and Sarah Barbara Miller. He worked on his father’s farm until he was 
twenty-one years of age and was inured to hard labor, by which he 
equipped himself with whip-cord muscles that served him well in later years. 
He attended the neighborhood public schools in the winter seasons until 
he was seventeen, when he entered the Concord State Normal School, from 
which he graduated in the class of 1879; taught in the publie schools for 
five years; studied medicine for a year or more, but abandoned it for law, 
and read law under the direction of W. W. Adams, an able lawyer of Hinton, 
Summers County; took a course in law at the University of Virginia, but 
before entering the University he was elected to and served a term as 
Superintendent of the Public Schools of Summers County; was admitted to 
the Bar at Hinton in 1882; two years later he was elected Prosecuting 
Attorney of Summers County and served in that office so ably, successfully 
and acceptably that he was thrice re-elected, making his term of service 
sixteen years, something rarely, if ever, duplicated in this or any other 
State. His service in that responsible position is a record of vigor, efficiency 
and manliness in every detail. As a lawyer he is thorough and accurate and 
has a firm grasp of legal principles, and this is one of the reasons he got 
on so well in the world. : 

In early life he exhibited a strong leaning towards politics. Being a 
pronounced Democrat, and always ready for strenuous party service, he 
was placed on various committees of his party, serving four years as 
Chairman of the Democratic State Committee, in which position he exhibited 
unusual skill and judgment as an organizer. In 1890 he was the nominee 
of the Democratic party for State Auditor, but was defeated along with the 
balance of his party candidates. Two years later he was his party’s candi- 
date for Congress, and as his party was in the minority, he was again 
aefeated. Still, in both of these races, he showed a pronounced popularity 
with the people. Being a lover of the ‘‘hook and line,’’ he served a term 
as District Fish Commissioner and was alert in enforcing the law. He also 
served under two Governors as a member of the Board of Regents of the 
State Normal Schools and was always found at his post of duty. He was 
for a time captain of a company in the State Military Guards and was a 
delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1896. 

In the campaign of 1904 he was elected Judge of the Cireuit Courts of 
Summers, Raleigh and Wyoming counties, and after serving a full term of 
eight years he was re-elected to the same high position, after a slight change 
of the boundaries of the circuit. He has been a hard student all through 
life, has kept abreast of the decisions and textbooks and has dignified the 


JUDGE JAMES H. MILLER 


174 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Bench by exhibiting the highest types of integrity, fidelity, learning and 
wisdom. 

A few years ago he wrote a complete ‘‘History of Summers County,’’ 
which shows industry, research and a fine literary style. He is married 
and is the father of four interesting children. His home is at Hinton, the 
seat of justice of Summers County, where he is highly respected by the 
people generally. 


Judge Luther Judson Williams 


Our subject, the son of Albert G. and Nancy (Donnally) Williams, who 
were descendants of the early settlers of Greenbrier County, Virginia, was 


born near Williamsburg in that county, October 18, 1856. He attended the 
local schools of his county and subsequently entered the West Virginia 
University, where he took an academic course, and later at the University 
of Virginia, where he received his training in law. He was reared on a 
farm and was inured to manual labor, which caused him to develop a 
strong, muscular physique that served him well through life. The natural 
transition of the young men in those years was from the bench in the 
schoolroom to the teacher’s chair, and young Williams followed the custom 
strenuously for a°few years, which experience gave him his first serious 
ideas of the importance of study and the value of an education. While 
teaching he acquired, by the careful reading and study of good books, a 
varied and substantial learning supplementary to his college studies. 

Mr. Williams was admitted to the Greenbrier County Bar at Lewisburg 
in June, 1888, which was then, and before, recognized as one of the strong 
and learned Bars of the State, and practiced in Greenbrier and adjoining 
counties until his elevation to membership on the Supreme Court of 
Appeals of West Virginia, January 1, 1909, to which exalted body he was 
elected as a Republican in the campaign of 1908 for the regular term of 
twelve years. His prior practice included all of the courts of the State 
and also the Federal courts as well. As an attorney he was careful and 
thoughtful in giving his opinions to clients on questions of law and was 
honest in his convictions, honest with the court and with his adversaries in 
the trial of causes in a courtroom. Naturally, therefore, his practice at 
the Bar was successful and profitable. 

Judge Williams has intermeddled with politics only in a limited way 
and consequently has held but few official positions. He was a member of 
the State Tax Commission, which rendered great service to the people in 
equalizing and readjusting the taxable property of the State, and from 1903 
to 1908, inclusive, he served efficiently as a member of the Board of Regents 
of the West Virginia University. Neither of these was a partisan position, 
but, of course, they were, in a sense, political and highly responsible offices. 

As we have already stated, Judge Williams became a Justice of the 
Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia January 1, 1909, and is 


JUDGE L. JUDSON WILLIAMS 


176 Bench and Bar of West Virgina 


regarded as a just Judge, an upright man, honest in thought and purpose, 
and is rendering efficient and satisfactory service to the people. He is a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South; is a thirty-second degree 
member of the Masonic Fraternity; has been twice married, and has two 
sons, the younger of whom was a volunteer in the marine service of the 
United States government in the war with Germany and Austria-Hungary 
and was killed in action near the ‘‘ Hindenburg Line’’ in July, 1918. 


Hon. William Gustavus Conley, LL.B., LL.D. 


Abraham Lincoln once said: ‘‘No men living are more worthy to be 
trusted than those who toil up from poverty; none less inclined to take or 
touch aught which they have not honestly earned.’’ To this class of honest 
toilers our subject belongs. He worked on the farm for Several years and 
later drove mules on railroad construction work, dug coal, drew coke, 
worked in the stone quarries, on the sawmills and whatever honest labor 
he could find to do to help support a widowed mother and sisters and to 
obtain an education. Those earlier years of Mr. Conley’s life stand as a 
splendid monument to his energy and pluck. 

William G. Conley is a grandson of John Conley, an industrious farmer 
who resided near Tunnelton and died there in the year 1852 at the 
advanced age of over eighty years. He had a large family of sons and 
daughters. One of these sons was Major William Conley, the father of 
William G., a highly educated man in his day and a successful educator. 
Major Conley’s early life was spent on a farm and in teaching school. He 
was principal of the Kingwood Academy for fourteen years. He was also 
a contractor for a number of years and was one of the builders of the 
Northwestern Turnpike and the Morgantown and Kingwood Turnpike. 

Our subject was born near Kingwood, Preston County, West Virginia, 
January 8, 1866. He attended the district schools, the summer normals and 
subsequently the West Virginia University, from which he graduated in 
June, 1893, with the degree of LL.B. His honorary degree of LL.D. was 
conferred upon him by the Nashville College of Law in April, 1903. After 
performing manual labor, mentioned above, he taught school five terms and 
was Superintendent of Schools of Preston County one term, beginning 
July 1, 1891. Upon graduation at the West Virginia University he began 
the practice of the law at Parsons, West Virginia, and was soon elected a 
member of the town council and later Mayor. His legal attainments were 
soon recognized and he was nominated and elected Prosecuting Attorney 
of Tucker County in 1896 and was re-elected in 1900. He moved to 
Kingwood in March, 1903, and served as Councilman and Mayor of that 
town. On May 9, 1908, he was appointed Attorney-General of West Vir- 
ginia, and the following July was nominated by the State Republican 
Convention for both the short and the long terms and at the general 
election that fall was elected by the largest plurality of any candidate on 


HON. WILLIAM G. CONLEY 


178 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


the State ticket. His term as Attorney-General expired March 4, 1913, 
when he again resumed the general practice of the law. 

Attorney-General Conley is considered one of the strong men of West 
Virginia. In the numerous important matters submitted to and determined 
by him and the many grave constitutional questions raised in and out of 
court upon which he was called to pass during the five years he served as 
the Attorney-General of the State he exercised a judgment seldom equaled 
and rarely excelled. His name will be favorably linked for all time to 
come with the jurisprudence of his State as the Official Reporter of the 
Supreme Court of Appeals and because of the number and importance of 
the litigation in the State and Federal courts in which he participated as 
counsel for the State. 

General Conley was not a candidate for renomination, but in the Repub- 
lican primary of June, 1912, he was nominated for Congress in the Second 
District of West Virginia without opposition and in the general election 
that fall came within fourteen votes of election, notwithstanding the 
Republican party was badly disorganized and his Democratic opponent was 
the most popular and one of the wealthiest men in the district and at the 
election preceding had been elected by a plurality of 4,492. 

On July 14, 1892, he married Miss Bertie Ison Martin, of Preston 
County. 

General Conley is a member of the Presbyterian Church, Knights of 
Pythias, Odd Fellows, Modern Woodmen of America, Freemasons Chapter, 
Commandery, Consistory and Shriners, the American Academy of Political 
and Social Science and the Southern Sociological Congress. As a lawyer 
he has been remarkably successful. 


Harrison M. Calhoun 


Among the well-known and successful lawyers of a rather remote, but 
really attractive, portion of West Virginia is the subject of this sketch. 
He is the son of Francis M. and Phoebe C. Calhoun and was born in 
Pendleton County, West Virginia, where the hills are highest, the sky is 
bluest, the grass grows more luxuriantly, the birds sing sweeter, the air 
is purer and the sun shines brighter than in any other portion of the 
Commonwealth. Among those charming surroundings, and in that splendid 
region, he first saw the light September 18, 1866, and there he has spent 
his life thus far and doubtless there he will end it. His early education was 
obtained from the public schools of the county; and if one is industrious, 
ambitious and painstaking such training as is there given out often is more 
useful than can anywhere else be obtained. A strong country lad, with 
an open mind, under the direction of a sensible, industrious instructor, can 
completely master the rudimentary elements of an English education, which 
can be augmented by subsequent college training, or if that is not available, 
by the systematic reading and study of books that can be obtained most 


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180 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


anywhere. After all, in this manner, the most valuable educations are often 
secured. Our subject possessed an aspiration for knowledge which no ecir- 
cumstances of his youth could suppress, and an ambition to secure a name 
and a place among men undaunted by any prospect which the future could 
present to his view. In early life he decided to become a lawyer, and 
under the instruction and direction of Judge Okey Johnson, of the West 
Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, he read law at his home while he was 
County Superintendent of Public Schools of his home county, which office 
he held from January 1, 1895, to December 31, 1898. Having thus prepared 
himself for the practice of law, he attended the short term in the law 
department of the West Virginia University and there passed a creditable 
examination for admission to the Bar; and in August, 1898 he was added 
to the roll of Attorneys of the Pendleton County Bar, where he has since 
practiced. His career as an attorney has presented more remunerative 
rewards than he had ever hoped for or expected. He has found from 
experience that work wins, and that the lawyer who is square in his acts 
and sticks closely to his business never fails to succeed. 

In addition to a four-year term as County Superintendent of Public 
Schools, to which we have already referred, he was nominated and eiected 
by the Democratic party, to which he belongs, to two terms of four years 
each as Prosecuting Attorney of Pendleton County, from 1901 to 1908, 
inclusive. The fact that he was re-elected is proof of his efficiency as a 
prosecutor of violators of the laws of the State. As another evidence of 
his popularity and faithfulness as an official he was nominated and elected, 
in 1912, to a two-year term in the lower branch of the West Virginia Legis- 
lature, wherein he served with credit to himself and honor to the people 
who had elected him. 

Mr. Calhoun married Miss Virginia Mullanax, of Highland County, Vir- 
ginia, May 28, 1889. Seven children are the result of this union. Their 
home is at Franklin, the seat of justice of Pendleton County. They are 
Methodists in their Church relations, and Mr. Calhoun is also a member of 
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. 


Robert Linn, LL.B. 


The subject of this sketch, son of Robert G. Linn, and a junior member 
of the strong law firm of Linn and Byrne, of Charleston, West Virginia, was 
born July 25, 1882, at Glenville, Gilmer County, West Virginia, and was 
educated in the publie schools of his native county and the State Normal 
at Glenville, where he took a thorough academic course. Later he entered 
the law department of the West Virginia University at Morgantown and 
graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Laws in the class of 1906. He 
was admitted to the Kanawha Bar, a few weeks after leaving college, 
and has since practiced as a member of his father’s firm. He has a strong 
legal mind, has broad and clear conceptions of legal principles and is 
thoroughly grounded in the law. He is a strong pleader, and while he 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia Sal 


handles his cases well, his strongest hold is that of an office lawyer, 
especially in the preparation of briefs in appellate cases. 

Mr. Linn is of large stature and commanding presence. He is of a 
retiring disposition and is modest and unassuming. He never intrudes 
himself upon others and is always gentlemanly and urbane, and is well up 
in all branches of the law. He practices in all the State and Federal courts 
within the limits of West Virginia. He has never married, and makes his 
home with his parents in the city of Charleston. He is a Democrat in his 
political affiliations, but has never sought nor held a political office. His 
undivided time and energies are devoted to his profession. 


Hon. William E. Arnold 


Among the law makers of the Old Commonwealth who became legislators 
in the new was the Hon. William E. Arnold, a native of Culpeper County, 
Virginia, born April 10, 1819. After receiving a classical education he 
attended law school and then settled in Weston, Lewis County, where he 
resided up to the time of his death; admitted to the Bar in 1846, he con- 
tinued in the profession, except when serving his people in State offices. 
Elected to the Virginia Legislature in 1857, he was active in the passage 
of the law locating the Hospital for the Insane at Weston. He remained 
in the Legislature by re-election until 1861, serving during the time on 
the Committees of Courts of Justice and Lunatic Asylums. A Union 
Democrat, believing that secession meant civil war, he espoused the cause 
of the whole Union and supported the Government. As a member of the 
West Virginia Legislature in 1877 he served on the Judiciary Committee, 
on Claims and Grievances, and on Roads and Internal Navigation. He 
introduced a measure to raise by State aid ‘‘An Internal Improvement 
Fund to build Roads throughout the Commonwealth.’’ Retiring from 
official work, he devoted his attention to law practice, banking, farming and 
grazing, by which he amassed a fortune which he enjoyed with his family. 
He was a prominent and highly respected lawyer and was well informed on 
all general subjects of history and literature. He died at his home at 
Weston more than a quarter of a century ago. 


Hon. Braxton Davenport Gibson 


Mr. Gibson was born in Jefferson County, Virginia, August 13, 1856, and 
received a liberal education at Shepherdstown and Charlestown Academies 
and at the University of Virginia. During 1880 and 1881 he was a member 
of the faculty of the Charlestown Academy, where he proved to be a very 
successful teacher. He was employed by the Shenandoah Railroad Company 
during 1882 and ’83. In the meantime he was a law student, and in 1884 
was admitted to practice in the courts of Jefferson County and later on 
in the higher courts of the State. He is a man of the highest personal 


182 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


~ 


character, and was not long in building up a lucrative practice. He is of a 
modest disposition and is rather retiring in his make-up, but he is a man 
of positive convictions and is firm in his determinations, and belongs to 
that class of men ‘‘who would rather be right than to be President.’’? He 
is a strong lawyer and a safe counselor and has hosts of friends wherever 
he is known. 

He was elected a member of the West Virginia Legislature, as a Demo- 
erat, in 1889, and was a faithful and efficient legislator and was always 
found at his post of duty. He was re-elected to the same office for a second 
term, which is proof of his efficiency and popularity. 

He is one of the best known Freemasons of the State, having acceptably 
filled many of the highest offices of that great fraternity, including its 
highest honor, that of Grand Master; also Past Grand High Priest of the 
Royal Arch Chapter of West Virginia. He is, therefore, well and favorably 
known by the thousands of that great Order in the State. 

He was happily married and resides near the place where he was born in 
the historic ‘‘ Valley of Virginia’’ in the enjoyment of the full faculties 
of mental and physical manhood and surrounded by hosts of admiring 
friends. 

He was a member of the West Virginia National Guard and was an Aid- 
de-Camp on the staff of Governor Flemming of West Virginia, with the rank 
of Colonel. He also served as a member of the Board of Directors of the 
State Hospital for the Insane at Weston for a number of years and was 
faithful and efficient in the discharge of his public duties. 

Colonel Gibson is a Protestant Episcopalian in his religious connections 
and has always voted with the Democrats. 


Judge David E. Johnston 


Judge Johnston was one of the strong characters, for many years, in 
the extreme southern portion of West Virginia. He was born in Giles 
County, Virginia, in 1845. His educational advantages were limited, but 
he managed to secure a sufficient knowledge of the primary branches to 
enable him to teach in the public schools for a short time. In 1870 he came 
to West Virginia, read law with James H. French, a relative of his mother, 
was admitted to the Mercer County Bar and became one of the distinguished 
lawyers of the State. He, however, before leaving Virginia, had been 
engaged in the practice in his native county of Giles and had succeeded 
in impressing the people of that section that, he was one of the coming 
young lawyers of Virginia. 

When the war came on, Mr. Johnston went with his State and the people 
of that section into the Southern Confederacy and remained until the close 
of the war, and was in many a hard fought battle. He was with Pickett’s 
brigade in the ‘‘stone fence’’ charge at Gettysburg, which, perhaps, was 
the greatest charge in all history. He was as brave a soldier as ever 
shouldered a musket or unsheathed a sword. When peace came Mr. Johnston 


JUDGE DAVID E. JOHNSTON 


184 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 
pune See 


returned to his home, prepared himself for the legal profession, became a 
lawyer, and a good one; came to West Virginia, as we have already stated, 
and was not long in forging to the front of a Bar of able attorneys. He 
made some wise investments in coal lands, and being a natural developer. 
it was not very long until he became a wealthy man and a leading citizen. 

He was a Democrat’ and was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Mercer 
County, and was an unusually vigorous one. He was a sincere man himself 
and a thoroughly honest one, and if men refused to obey the law, he made 
them do it, and he was right. The people saw that he was a full-sized man 
and a courageous one, and they elected him a Circuit Judge in 1880, and 
he served eight years ably and honorably. In 1898 they sent him to 
Congress and ‘‘he made good’’ as a National legislator. The section in 
which he lived turned Republican, or doubtless he would have been kept 
in Congress permanently. He was an able Representative, and was honest 
from hat to heels. 

In the fall of 1893 he moved his residence from Princeton to Bluefield, 
and while he was an all round lawyer, he began to specialize in corporation 


law. He had a number of big clients and was engaged in big enterprises, 
such as banking, coal mining, projecting railroads and the like. If the facts 
were all told we believe it would appear that Judge Johnston, more than 
any other man, was the real projector of the Norfolk and Western Railroad, 
perhaps the foremost coal road in all the world. It was big things that 
Judge Johnston devoted his time to. He was a big man. 

Judge Johnston married Miss Sarah E. Pearis, of Pearisburg, Giles 
County, Virginia. Four children were the result of their marriage. The 
Judge is to be most commended for his devotion to and service in the 
Baptist Church. He spent practically all of his mature life in the cause 
of religion, and left a lasting impression upon all the people with whom 
he associated. A few years ago he sold out all of his large holdings in 
West Virginia, pulled up all the roots he had planted here, went to Port- 
land, Oregon, planted them there in that sunny clime, was living honestly 
and happily in the enjoyment of his large possessions, when on the 7th of 
July, 1917, he was summoned to a higher and nobler sphere. Like the 
Prince he always was, he swept through the gates of the New Jerusalem. 
He answered the call like a hero. He was no more, and many people 


mourned. 
Peace to his ashes, 


Rest to his soul. 


Hon. George Edmund Price 


Mr. Price is of Welsh descent and was born near Moorefield, Hardy 
County, Virginia, November 9, 1848, and was educated in the schools at 
Moorefield in all the rudimentary branches. Later he entered Georgetown 
University, District of Columbia, where he was an honor student, standing 
high in his classes and from which he graduated cum laude in 1869. He 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 185 


then went to Frederick, Maryland, and read law with his great uncle, 
General James M. Coale, for two years, and in December, 1871, he was 
admitted to the Frederick County Bar, where he began the active practice 
of his profession, remaining until 1875, when he removed to Keyser, Mineral 
County, West Virginia. Here he continued in the practice until 1890 when 
he located in Charleston, Kanawha County, where he has since resided. 
Here he formed a partnership with Hon. S. L. Flournoy, a lawyer of pro- 
nounced ability, which continued until the death of Mr. Flournoy. He 
is at this time the senior member of the able and well known law firm 
of Price, Smith, Spilman and Clay, of Charleston, which firm is carrying 
on an immense business in all the varied branches of the law with a leaning 
toward specializing in the directions of corporation and commercial practice. 

Mr. Price, although in no sense a politician, became interested in polities 
and political economy in early manhood, and his friends recognized his 
unsolicited claims to party recognition, in 1882, by electing him to the 
West Virginia Senate, and through re-election he served in that dignified 
position for eight consecutive years with great distinction and usefulness 
to the people of the State. During the sessions of 1885, ’87 and ’89 he was 
the presiding officer of that body, which made him ev officio, Lieutenant- 
Governor of the Commonwealth. He presided with dignity and absolute 
fairness, and at the same time he was one of the most active and efficient 
members of the body, being the patron of several bills which were of State- 
wide importance. Whilst he was a safe and sane legislator, his strong hold 
was then, as now, his erudite knowledge of the law, which served him well 
upon all occasions and at all times. 

As a lawyer Mr. Price is careful, clear-headed, systematic, vigilant ane 
thorough in his work. In argument he addresses the reason and the practical 
judgment of a court and jury. He is clear-sighted and wide awake in 
respect of motives and ulterior influences. He is always thoughtful of the 
wants and feelings of others, and in the trial of his cases he is always fair 
and just. He has no enemies. Every one who knows him well is his friend. 
His learning is varied and extensive, and his life as a lawyer, whether 
judged with reference to the extent of labor performed, pecuniary gain or 
fame, it must be admitted that he stands in the forefront of the profession. 
As a trial lawyer it would be difficult to find his superior. His prominent 
characteristics are a strong will, sound judgment, a keen knowledge of 
human nature, rigid devotion to what he believes to be right, and his char- 
acter is beautified by simplicity and gentleness. No taint has ever rested 
upon his private or public life. 

Senator Price has handled so many important cases in State and National 
courts that we will not attempt to mention them here. We will, however, 
state the fact that he was appointed years ago by Governor Fleming to 
represent West Virginia in the boundary suit between it and Maryland 
in the Supreme Court of the United States, involving certain lines between 
said States. He prepared the pleadings, wrote the brief and argued the 
case orally before the court, and finally won the decision in West Virginia’s 


186 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


favor. This has become one of the leading cases of its kind in the entire 
country, and Senator Price is entitled to great credit for the able manner 
in which it was handled by him. 

He is also a business man of tact and enterprise; is Vice President and 
Director of the Kanawha Banking and Trust Company, one of the largest 
banking institutions of the State, and is also connected with other important 
developments in the southern portion of West Virginia. 

In June, 1878, he was united in marriage with Miss Sallie A. Dorsey, of 
Harvard County, Maryland. They have reared a large family, two sons 
living, being at this time resident lawyers of Charleston. 

He is a member of the Presbyterian Church, in which denomination he 
has for years been a Ruling Elder. 

He is of medium stature, firmly built, loves home-life and enjoys asso- 
ciations with his legion of friends. Although he is nearing his three score 
and ten station in the journey of life he is vigorous and active, and is at 
all proper times at work either at his desk or in a court room, where he is 
““ at home ’’ in the broadest meaning of that term. 


Hon. James F. Brown, M.A. 


The subject of this sketch, son of Judge James H. Brown, who was 
eminent both as lawyer and jurist, was born in Charleston, Virginia, March 
7, 1852. After completing a preparatory course at the ‘‘ Charleston Insti- 
tute,’’ the then leading educational institution in the Kanawha Valley, he 
entered the West Virginia University, from which he graduated, receiving 
his A.B. in 1873, and later the degree of A.M. On leaving college he took 
up the study of law under the tutelage of his father, and in 1875 was 
admitted to the Bar. He rapidly advanced in his profession; his practice 
soon extending beyond the courts of the State and to the highest courts 
of the country. He is not only learned in law, but is an able advocate, 
skilled in court practice and maintains a high rank, with but few equals, 
and perhaps no superior, among the members of the West Virginia Bar. 

For nearly thirty years he has been senior member of the law firm of 
Brown, Jackson and Knight, the oldest and one of the best known law 
firms in the State of West Virginia. 

Mr. Brown, though devoted to his profession and always yielding to it 
his first allegiance, was not unmindful of the duties of the citizen, and 
from the first shared in all movements looking to the public good. He was 
especially interested in what made for the welfare of his native town and 
the Kanawha Valley, given unstintingly of his time, energies and means 
to the advancement of both toward the worthy position they now occupy 
commercially and industrially, being from the beginning identified with 
most of the solid institutions which distinguish Charleston and the Valley 
as the most'promising and prosperous section of the State. 


{ { 


HON. JAMES F. BROWN 


188 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 

Early in his business life he was chosen to the City Council, and for 
nearly twenty years continued an active and useful member of that body 
—prominent in inaugurating and influential in carrying to successful 
realization all movements to transform the modest town to the progressive 
and prosperous city. 

In 1883-4 he represented his County in the Legislature of the State, 
serving on the Judiciary, Finance and other important Committees; and 
for years under successive Governors of different politics was appointed 
and reappointed a member of the Board of Regents of the State University. 
In these positions, as well as in the many others of confidence and trust, 
public and private, to which he has been called from time to time, the 
results demonstrated his character, his sound judgment and broad acquaint- 
ance with business and of public affairs, have made his counsel and services 
widely sought for beyond the strict lines of his profession. 

Mr. Brown may well be designated one of the ‘‘ oldest inhabitants,’’ 
having for more than two-thirds of a century resided at the old family 
home, ‘‘ The Elms,’’ a relic of the early days of Charleston, which has 
withstood the onrush of a progressive community, a beautiful spot in the 
heart of the city which has grown up around it, the ample grounds stiii 
intact and the great elms which adorn them are unique among the tall 
business blocks now on every hand. His grandchildren are the fifth gener- 
ation to live there; and the ‘‘ home ’’ still the gathering place of a wide 
family connection has lost none of the old-time hospitality which char- 
acterized it in the ante-bellum days. : 

Mr. Brown, among his many activities, has for years been Vice Presi- 
dent of the Kanawha Valley Bank, the oldest and the leading financial 
institution of the Southern half of the State; Vice’ President of the George 
Washington Life Insurance Company; charter member of and actively 
identified with the Central Trust Company; the Cabin Creek Consolidated 
Coal Company; West Charleston Improvement Company; the Charleston 
Window Glass Company, and many other undertakings helping to the 
development of the material interests of the Kanawha Valley all pros- 
perous, and in the organization and management of which he has had an 
active part. 

He is a trustee of the City Hospital, the Masonic Temple, the Kanawha 
Presbyterian Church, and had much to do with the planning and direction of 
the handsome buildings occupied by each of these institutions. He is also 
identified with the Y. M. C. A., the Edgewood Country Club, and other like 
local institutions. While a tireless worker Mr. Brown has none the less 
found time for the home life and for culture along liberal lines; has been 
a broad reader and has traveled widely in this country and abroad. 

In 1877 he married Miss Jennie Woodbridge, of Marietta, Ohio, and has 
six children, all living in the home town and close about him, except his 
son Benjamin B., who after graduating at Princeton and Harvard, is, at 
the age of twenty-four now an officer at the front in France, participating 
in the great world war. 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 189 


Benjamin Mason Ambler 


One among the ablest and best known law firms in West Virginia is that 
of Van Winkle and Ambler, of Parkersburg. The subject of this sketch 
is the junior member of this successful combination. He is a native of 
Winchester in the Valley of Virginia, which has been very appropriately 
termed ‘‘ The Garden Spot of the World,’’ and is the son of the Reverend 
John and Anna Mason Ambler. He was liberally educated in private 
schools in Richmond, Virginia, and at the University of Virginia at Char- 
lottesville; but perhaps his broadest education was obtained by the sys- 
tematic reading of good books in all of the various branches of literature, 
history, ete. He always has on hand a large fund of valuable information 
from which to draw on any occasion and in any emergency. No man in 
our acquaintance is his superior in the presentation of an intricate and dif- 
ficult problem in law, or for that matter on any sort of a subiect. His mind 
at all times is as clear as a bell. Any one can see what he is driving at, 
and he possesses the art of making one see a proposition as clearly as he 
himself sees and understands it. He, therefore, is an advocate of great 
foree, and rarely loses a case that he ought to win. There are in the pro- 
fession more magnetic lawyers than he, but we know none his superior in 
the plain presentation of a cause to a court or jury. 

Mr. Ambler is naturally as well as by education and training fitted for 
the work of a lawyer. 'A thorough, close and logical reasoner, as we have 
already stated, his early absorption of the underlying principles of juris- 
prudence was a solid foundation for the study, observation and experience 
of an active and successful practitioner. He always carries to a high 
degree the power of convincing statement. In his preparation for trials 
he is thorough and tactful, and is masterful in the examinations of wit- 
nesses. In the play of humor he is dry and grim, as well as artful and 
witty; and as a counselor he is wise and judicious. He always earries an 
abundance of force of will and self-reliance, which in a iarge measure 
account for his success as a lawyer. He is optomistiec and cheerful in his 
make up, and the effect of associations with him are always reassuring. 
He is accurate in all his transactions and his integrity is equal to his 
accuracy. Taking him all in all he must be classified among the very 
strong, able lawyers of the State. He could have been in the judiciary 
years ago, but he preferred to remain in the regular practice, because it 
is more congenial and perhaps more remunerative. 

Mr. Ambler was admitted to practice in July, 1874, at Parkersburg, West 
Virginia. Since then he has been admitted to the Bars of all the State and 
Federal Courts, including the Supreme Court of the United States, in which 
latter tribunal he has had a number of important cases. In polities he is 
a Democrat, but never would consent to be a candidate for any office, and 
consequently never held an office, except City Attorney of Parkersburg. 
He preferred to devote all his time and energies to his profession and this, 
perhaps, is one of the reasons why he has reached the top rungs of the 


190 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


legal ladder in his adopted State. He is married and has three children, 
one of them (a son) is a member of the Parkersburg Bar, and is a young 
man of unusual promise. 

Mr. Ambler has been one of the leaders of the West Virginia Bar Asso- 
ciation from its organization to the present time, and was its efficient 
President in 1888. He is also a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church 
at Parkersburg and is one of its Vestrymen. He is likewise a leader among 
the developers of the City of Parkersburg in all of its civie betterments. 
In every way he is entitled to be classed among the prominent and useful 
citizens of the Commonwealth. 


Hon. Alfred Caldwell 


Mr. Caldwell was born in the City of Wheeling, July 14, 1847. He was 
educated at Harding’s Academy, Wheeling, Va., West Liberty Academy, 
Oahu College, Punahon, Hawaiian Islands, where his father for several 
years was engaged in the United States Consular Service, and in 1867 he 
graduated as a Batchelor of Philosophy from Yale University. He studied 
the text books of the law under the direction of his father, who for many 
years was one of the able barristers of the City of Wheeling, and was 
admitted to practice in the courts of that city in 1868 when he had barely 
reached his majority. He possessed a brilliant intellect, and being gifted 
as a public speaker it was not long before he reached an enviable position 
among the many noted lawyers of his native city. 

General Caldwell is a strong trial lawyer. He is gifted in speech, with 
satirical tendencies which drifts into humor, and never fails to secure the 
closest attention of both court and jury. Opposing counsel soon learn he 
has a master to deal with in the trial of important causes. The firm of 
Caldwell & Caldwell, composed of his senior brother, George B. Caldwell, 
and himself, for a generation or more was one of the leading law firms of 
the City of Wheeling. George B. died about two or three years ago and 
his place was taken in the firm by the General’s son, William G., who is a 
young man of industry and ability, and thus is continued the well known 
law firm of Caldwell & Caldwell, attorneys and counselors at law. 

The subject of this sketch early in life became interested in polities. 
He served in both branches of the Wheeling City Council; was City Solicitor 
one term, and was a member of the State Senate from 1875 to 1879. He 
was eight years Attorney-General of the State, from 1885 to 1893, and 
filled that high officé with great acceptability. He was a Democrat in 
politics until 1896, when he abandoned his party on account of its advocacy 
of the free and unlimited coinage of silver as the basis of our national 
currency, and has, since that time, aligned himself with the Republicans. 
He is admitted to be one of the most effective campaign speakers the State 
has ever produced, and also stands at the top of his profession as a lawyer. 


HON. ALFRED CALDWELL 


192 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


He is a master of satire and sarcasm, and is really a great orator and 
advocate. 

General Caldwell married a daughter of Mr. Wm. 8. Goshorn, of Wheeling, 
and has reared an interesting family of eight children, all of whom, except 
two, that are deceased, and two married daughters, still reside in the city 
of their nativity. He is a learned lawyer, and has the confidence and 
respect not only of the people of the City of Wheeling, but of the entire 
State as well. But few, if any, men in West Virginia are better known or 
more highly respected than he. 


Judge John A. Campbell, A.M. 


Judge Campbell is one of the distinguished and best known lawyers and 
retired Circuit Judges of the northern portion of the State. He was born 
in Columbiana County, Ohio, and came to Hancock County with his father, 
Alexander Campbell, when he was thirteen years of age, and became a 
citizen of New Cumberland, where he has since resided. He received his 
education in the public schools of Ohio, and was graduated, magnum cum 
laude, from Washington College, Pennsylvania, in 1867, with the degree of 
Bachelor of Arts. For a time he thought of making teaching his profession, 
and was tendered the chair of Mathematics in Hiram College, Ohio, the 
year of his graduation, which he declined. A short time thereafter, how- 
ever, he became Professor of English, logic and literature, in the Normal 
College at Hopedale, Ohio, where he remained for four years. In 1871, on 
account of impaired health, he resigned his professorship and returned to 
West Virginia; read law, passed the required examination, and was 
admitted to the Hancock County Bar in 1872. Being a natural orator of 
unusual force he very soon developed into a trial lawyer of renown, and 
took high rank in the Hancock and surrounding county Bars, and was not 
long in securing a profitable clientele. In early life he exhibited a taste 
for polities. Without solicitation on his part in 1871 he was nominated 
by the Republicans and elected a member of the lower branch of the State 
Legislature, and subsequently was twice re-elected to the same position. 
While in college he had devoted much Study to parliamentary laws, and 
was very soon recognized by his colleagues as the best parliamentarian in ~ 
the Legislature. Being a superior debater, coupled with his knowledge of 
parliamentary tactics, made him a leader of that body. Im 1880 he was 
tendered the nomination of his party for a seat in the American Congress, 
but declined; later he was mentioned in connection with a like nomination, 
and in 1888 he was actively in the field for that position, but was defeated. 
He is a master of the English language, and is one of the cleanest cut and 
most eloquent stump speakers in the entire State. He has, therefore, in 
many political campaigns rendered efficient service to his party in every 
section of West Virginia. In 1888 he was nominated and elected a Cireuit 


JUDGE JOHN A. CAMPBELL 


194 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Court Judge for the First Judicial Circuit, and served faithfully and 
efficiently for the full term of eight years. He proved to be one of the 
fairest, painstaking judges that ever wore the judicial ermine in this or 
any other State. 

Judge Campbell’s entire life is an example of wisdom, learning, fidelity, 
forceful presentation, and above all absolute fairness, and scrupulous cul- 
tivation of the best elements of the profession and stainless observance 
of its best traditions the writer has ever known. He has ever worn above 
him the white flower of a blameless life. He was fewer times reversed by 
the Supreme Court than any other judge of his day. He is an intense 
American. He believes in the equality of the human race and the just 
rights of all men before the law. While he is a pronounced partisan in 
polities he is not narrow in his views, but believes in the doctrine of allow- 
ing the greatest liberty to every citizen. He is a member of the Disciples 
Church, yet he is liberal in his religious convictions. For the past few 
years he has devoted a large part of his time to the banking business at 
New Cumberland, where he has spent the larger part of his life. It can be 
truly said of him that he has the confidence and respect of every one who 
knows him personally. 

He was married rather late in life, and is a model in his home life and 
surroundings. 


Hon. John D. Alderson 


Hon. John D. Alderson was born in Nicholas County, then Virginia, 
November 29, 1854, and died at Richwood in that county on the 2d day 
of December, 1910. Even while a mere boy, and before he attained his 
majority, he was an active participant in the Democratic polities of his 
State, and his interest therein continued throughout his entire life. At 
about the age of eighteen years he was appointed a page in the West 
Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1872, which framed the present 
Constitution of this State, and for nearly twenty years thereafter he was 
connected in some capacity with the State Legislature, being door keeper 
of the Senate at the session of 1872-3; sergeant-at-arms of the Senate at 
the session of 1875, 1877, 1879 and 1889, and Clerk of the Senate at its 
sessions of 1883, 1885 and 1887. Having studied law and prepared for the 
Bar he was admitted to practice and opened an office at Summersville, 
Nicholas County, January 1, 1876, and in April of that year was appointed 
Prosecuting Attorney of Nicholas and Webster Counties, and was elected 
to the same office in the fall of 1876 and re-elected in 1880 and 1884, thus 
serving for twelve years. 

In 1888 Mr. Alderson received from his party the nomination for Con- 
gress from the Third Congressional District and made an active and 
vigorous campaign, and was elected by a small majority over his opponent, 
Hon. James H. McGinnis, to the Fifty-first Congress. He was nominated 


HON. JOHN D. ALDERSON 


196 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


and re-elected to the Fifty-second and Fifty-third Congresses and was 
renominated in 1894, but was defeated by the Hon. James H. Huling, the 
complexion of the West Virginia delegation being completely changed at 
the election in the fall of 1894 from a solidly Demoeratie to a solidly 
Republican representation. 

After his service in the National House of Representatives Mr. Alderson 
resumed the active practice of his profession at Summersville, at first 
having as his partner Mr. A. J. Horan, under the firm name of Alderson 
& Horan, and later Mr. Alex N. Breckenridge and his son, Fleming N. 
Alderson, under the firm name of Alderson, Breckenridge & Alderson. As 
a trial lawyer he was exceedingly vigorous and effective, and he enjoyed 
the largest practice in his section of the State, extending to many counties 
beyond the home county of Nicholas. After his service in Congress he 
maintained a most active interest in the politics of his State, being a 
delegate to the Democratic National Conventions of 1900, 1904 and 1908, 
and in the year 1900 he accepted the Democratic nomination for the House 
of Delegates of West Virginia from Nicholas County and was elected and 
served in that body, being the leader of the minority in the House of 
Delegates and participating in all debates of that session. 

Mr. Alderson was a man of strong natural ability and intellect, cultivated 
by industry and research, and as a public speaker and advocate was thor- 
oughly able to sustain himself; and his natural abilities, experience and 
knowledge of human nature rendered him at all times a most dangerous 
opponent in the trial of causes. He was of a frank and impetuous dispo- 
sition, but of such generous and genial manner and heart that his contests 
never engendered bitterness, either to himself or in his opponents. His 
long practice and public service rendered him one of the best known and 
most popular lawyers in the State, and his death was mourned as a real 
loss among all classes and conditions of his friends and adherents. 


Hon. Samuel V. Woods, A.B. 


The subject of this sketch is one of the able and well known lawyers of 
West Virginia. He is a son of the late Hon. Samuel Woods, who served 
with distinction for a term of years as a Judge of the Supreme Court of 
Appeals of the State, a sketch of whom will also be found in this volume. 
The son was born in Barbour County, West Virginia, August 31, 1856. He 
took the academic course at the West Virginia University, graduating with 
honor. He studied law under the tutelage of his father and was admitted 
to the Bar by the Supreme Court of Appeals of the State in 1881, and has 
been engaged in active practice at Philippi, the seat of justice of Barbour 
County, since that time in which he has been unusually successful in every 
sense of the word. Honored in his profession he is equally esteemed as a 
citizen of the community in which he was born, and thus far where his 
professional life has been spent, and with all the interests with which he 


HON. SAMUEL V. WOODS 


198 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


has been identified. His serenity of disposition, his unfailing courtesy to 
all men, his ready response to every call of charity or duty, endeared him 
to all who came in contact with him. In his court work he has always 
been distinguished for the thoroughness of his preparation, the tact of his 
examination of witnesses, his accurate knowledge of all the details of 
pleading and practice, and a coolness, self-poise, never shaken manner, he 
exhibits under circumstances the most adverse and trying. 

As an advocate he is gifted with logical powers and a faculty of expres- 
sion remarkably simple and lucid. His diction is clear and correct and his 
language is forceful and pointed. He always speaks directly to the point 
at issue and to the minds of his hearers. In short, he is a high grade public 
speaker and debater, and better still, he is moral, honorable, upright and 
reliable, which add greatly to his influence as a trial lawyer. He looks 
carefully into the facts of a case before he advises the sort of action to be 
taken. In this way he keeps clients out of trouble, instead of getting them 
info it—a wise course for every lawyer to pursue. 

From early manhood Mr. Woods has shown a liking for polities. He 
has always been an earnest Democrat and a loyal partisan. Unfortunately 
he lives in a Republican locality, and because of this and also because he 
would never ‘‘trim’’ or make false promises or deceive, he has several 
times failed of an election, when he could otherwise have won. He was 
two terms Mayor of Philippi; was four years a State Senator and President 
of that body, which made him ex officio Lieutenant-Governor of the State; 
he was twice a candidate for Congress; was a Delegate in 1890 to the 
National Democratic Convention; and has several times served acceptably 
as Special Judge of Taylor and Upshur Counties Cireuit Courts. 

Senator Woods is a prominent and useful member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, which has honored him with a seat in its highest law- 
making body —its General Conference, which meets quadrennially. He 
has been for a number of years a Trustee of the West Virginia Wesleyan 
College at Buckhannon. He is also an efficient official member of his home 
church at Philippi. During his entire mature life he has been on the moral 
side of every public question that has come before the people. He is also 
a member of the Masonic Fraternity and the Knights of Pythias, and is 
influential in both of them. He is married and lives in the town where he 
was born, a little more than sixty years ago, and has the confidence of all 
the people who know him. He is large of stature, commanding in appear- 
ance and genial in disposition. 


John Hopkins Woods 


The Woods family of Barbour County, West Virginia, embraces a body 
of distinguished lawyers. The father, the Hon. Samuel Woods, was for 
many years an able lawyer and jurist, who is considered in another part 
of this volume, had three sons who also became noted members of the pro- 
fession. Frank, the eldest son, was a classical graduate of the West 


J. HOP. WOODS 


200 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Virginia University and also an alumnus of its Law Department, practiced 
tor a few years at Grafton, West Virginia, as a member of the strong law 
firm of Martin and Woods; finally located at Baltimore and attained a high 
rank as a member of that great Bar of illustrious lawyers, and died just 
as his sun had reached its noon, mourned by many friends, because of his 
unusual ability and worth. Another of this. distinguished legal household 
is the subject of this sketch, who has also reached an enviable rank in the 
profession, who is still in the flesh and commands a large clientele in the 
City of Philippi, Barbour County, where he was born November 23, 1853, 
and where he has spent an active and successful professional life, thus 
reversing the Scriptural rule ‘‘ that a prophet is not without honor, save 
in his own country.’’ He is known personally to, most likely, every man 
of any importance in his native county, and has a State-wide standing 
among the legal fraternity. He is distinguished in person, dignified and 
graceful in manner, and withal modest and unassuming. Solidly grounded 
in his profession, upright in character, and reveals marked legal ability in 
important cases, of which he has at all times many. Measuring his life 
work in all of its bearings he has made a record worthy to be envied and 
followed as well as to be admired by his fellow citizens. He is a broad, 
thorough and conscientious lawyer, and an exemplary citizen who has the 
absolute confidence and respect of all his fellow citizens who know him 
personally. 

Mr. Woods was educated in the publie schools of his native county, the 
West Virginia University, and spent one year (1875) as a cadet at West 
Point Military Academy; studied law under the tutelage of his father and 
at the State University at Morgantown. He has always been a consistent 
Democrat, but was never a candidate for an elective office, except Mayor 
of the City of Philippi, when he was elected without opposition in 1903, 
and proved an efficient and painstaking official. He, however, served from 
1889 to 1895 as a member of the Board of Directors of the Boys’ State 
Reform School, and gave particular attention to its careful management. 
He is a superior public speaker and has shown unusual aptitude and fond- 
ness for the law and the forum. He, therefore, excels as an advocate and 
trial lawyer. He was admitted to the Bar in 1878 and carries on a general 
practice in all the courts of West Virginia, both State and Federal. 

He was united in marriage with Miss Jennie Canter June 22, 1898. They 
have one son, Nelson Canter Woods, who is-now a cadet at the Staunton 
(Virginia) Military Academy. Mr. Woods is an active member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, and is a member of the Masonic Fraternity. 
He is also a member of the West Virginia Bar Association and was its 
President in 1907, and was President of the Local Draft Board of his county 
in the war with Germany. 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 201 


Hon. Charles Edgar Hogg, LL.D. 


Dr. Hogg, son of James A. Hogg, was born in Mason County, Virginia, 
December 21, 1852, and was educated in the common schools of his native 
county and at Carleton Academy in Meigs County, Ohio. When but little 
above fifteen years of age he taught his first school. Later on he graduated 
from Oldham and Howe’s Business College. In 1871 he was employed as 
bookkeeper for the Valley City Salt Company, where he remained for a 
year or more. During these early years he was a diligent student of history 
and English under the direction of his uncle, Dr. A. L. Knight, who was 
a noted linguist and a well known student of science and history. He was 
also tutored by Professor D. P. Guthrie, a graduate of the Ohio University, 
and a high school teacher of Mason County, West Virginia, and Meigs 
County, Ohio. Under Professor Guthrie’s direction and tutelage young 
Hogg vigilantly studied Latin, Greek, German and the higher branches of 
mathematics, which included algebra, geometry and astronomy. He als& 
took lessons in physiology and physics. Im all of these branches of learning 
he was an apt and industrious student, anu in this way he pieced out the 
equipment of an average college education of that period. During all this 
time he was determined to end up as a lawyer, and his thoughts were 
continuously in that direction. So he began the regular study of legal 
text books in 1874 in the office of Judge C. P. T. Moore and Hon. Henry J. 
Fisher at Point Pleasant, two of the ablest lawyers of the Mason County 
Bar, which he steadfastly pursued for five years. During this period, how- 
ever, he was twice elected Superintendent of Public Schools of his native 
county, and in this position he rendered faithful and satisfactory service 
for four years. He was admitted as a member of the Mason County Bar, 
and began life as a lawyer during his first term as Superintendent of the 
public schools of that county, with the exception of the seven years he was 
Dean of the law department of the West Virginia University, he has since 
been engaged in active practice. He was admitted to the Bar of the 
Supreme Court of the United States in 1888 and has, at intervals, been 
practicing in that court ever since. He appeared in the Sunreme Court of 
West Virginia for the first time in January, 1875, and has practiced in 
that court ever since, and has also practiced in the courts of Pennsylvania, 
Chio and Indiana. His life, therefore, as a lawyer, a law teacher or a law 
writer, whether judged with reference to labor performed, pecuniary gain 
or fame, he stands to-day in the forefront of the legal profession in his 
rative State. 

He was selected as Dean of the law faculty of the West Virginia Uni- 
versity in 1906, and in that position he proved equal to every emergency. 
In the meantime he raised the standard of his department until it ranked 
among the foremost law schools in the country. In this position he 
remained seven consecutive years. It was agreed when he accepted the 
position of Dean that he was to be allowed to appear in important cases 
in the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia and the Supreme Court 


202 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


of the United States, which he frequently did. For more than a generation 
he has been a close, hard student of the law, and he has dignified the 
profession by exhibiting in his practice the highest types of integrity, 
fidelity, learning and wisdom. 

In 1907 Temple University, of Philadelphia, conferred upon Dean Hogg, 
in recognition of his attainments as a lawyer, teacher and publicist, its 
highest honorary degree,— that of Doctor of Laws. 

Dr. Hogg has not only proved his ability as a practicing attorney and 
teacher, but he is recognized as the foremost writer and publicist of legal 
authority that the State of West Virginia has ever produced. He is the 
author of ‘‘Hogg’s Pleading and Forms,’’ ‘‘ Equity Principles,’’ ‘‘ Hquity 
Procedure,’’ in two volumes, and ‘‘Treatise and Forms.’’ The first of 
these works is now in its third edition with the fourth in course of prepara- 
tion, and a second edition of ‘‘Treatise and Forms’’ is now being prepared. 
He is also the author of the following subjects in the ‘‘Hneyclopedia of 
Eividence’’: Conclusive Evidence, Vol. 3; Documentary Evidence, Vol. 4; 
Judgments, Vol. 7; Variance and Admissibility of Evidence as Depending 
upon the Pleadings, Vol. 13; and is also the author of Accounts and Account- 
ing, in Vol. 1, ‘‘Standard Encyclopedia of Procedure,’’ and is one of the 
consulting editors of ‘‘American and English Encyclopedia of Law and 
Practice.’’ 

He now has in course of preparation the following works: ‘‘The Physi- 
cian as an Expert ’’; ‘‘ Rights and Duties of School Teachers under the 
Law’’; ‘‘Form Book with special reference to Virginia and West Vir- 
ginia’’; ‘‘Law Procedure in the Virginias,’’ and some other books which 
he has in contemplation. 

He was a Democrat in politics until 1896 when he left that party on 
account of its free coinage of silver advocacy, and has since acted witn 
the Republicans. He is a Presbyterian and a Freemason. He is a genial 
companion, always cheerful and the effect of his society is reassuring. As 
a hard worker he cannot be surpassed. He is a living example of the 
proverb that ‘‘Work Wins.’’ As a public speaker his rank is high and 
as an all-round lawyer he is difficult to equal or surpass. He served with 
eredit to his constituency as a Member of the Fiftieth Congress of the 
United States, from 1887 to 1889, inclusive. At the expiration of his two- 
year term he retired, and since that time has declined ta be a candidate 
for, or to accept, public office. 


Judge Homer B. Woods 


The Woods family, from which the subject of this sketch descended, 
originally came from Wales. His parents were Philip A. and Salina 
(Wells) Woods. Homer B. was born near Harrisville, Ritchie County, West 
Virginia, July 16, 1869, and received his primary education in the public 
schools of his native county. While only sixteen years of age he began to 
teach in the public schools of Ritchie County, which he followed for four 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 203 


or five years. However, feeling the need of a higher grade education, he 
attended Marietta (Ohio) College and remained for several years, studying 
the higher branches. He returned to his native State and was principal 
of the Harrisville High School, and during that time he served two terms 
as County Superintendent of Public Schools of Ritchie County. Deciding 
to become a lawyer he took the law course at the West Virginia University, 
and was admitted as a member of the Ritchie County Bar in 1892, and 
immediately entered upon the practice of his profession in which he rapidly 
rose to an enviable rank. He was known as a young man who bore an 
irreproachable personal character and could be trusted in all that he said 
and did; consequently he never lacked in having a profitable clientele. 
Twice he was elected Prosecuting Attorney of his home county, and on the 
second occasion he received the largest majority that had theretofore ever 
been given to any other candidate for any office in Ritchie County, which 
was proof of the fact that he was an able and honest prosecutor of vio- 
lators of the State laws. His motto was ‘‘ Let no guilty man escape,’’ and 
he enforced it ‘‘ without fear or favor.’’ 

In 1904 he was nominated by the Republicans and was elected Judge of 
the Third Judicial Cireuit of West Virginia. Hight years later he was 
re-elected to the same high and responsible office and is still serving with 
great acceptability. He, therefore, holds a high rank among the Circuit 
Judges of the State. Having been an earnest and faithful student of the 
law for many years, and being absolutely sincere and honest, he could not 
fail to be an honor to the judiciary department of his native State. He 
is widely and favorably known and is highly esteemed as a man of honor 
and integrity. He has the confidence and respect of all the people who 
know him. 

Judge Woods is a useful member of the Baptist Church at Harrisville 
where he resides. He was united in marriage September 10, 1892, with 
Miss Winifred Davis, of Harrisville. They have a large family and main- 
tain a pleasant home in the town of their nativity. Judge Woods is 
devoted to his home and loves the evening communion of the family circle. 
He is of medium stature and his picture shows him to be an extremely 
sociable and an all round agreeable gentleman. He is not only a sound 
lawyer and a just judge, but he is in every respect an ideal citizen. 


Judge Samuel D. Littlepage 


Samuel D. Littlepage, son of Adam and Rebecca Littlepage, was born in 
the two-story stone dwelling known as the Old Stone Mansion in the 
western limits of Charleston, West Virginia, February 14, 1856, owned and 
occupied by him at the time of his death, which took place August 18, 1917, 
at Atlantic City, New Jersey, where he had been for several months in 
search of health. His education was limited to the schools of Charleston 
and to a course in the law department of Washington and Lee University. 
Being a young man of high ambitions and unlimited energies and industry 


204 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


he did not falter, but kept on perservering until he obtained, through every 
possible channel, what may be termed a: liberal education. His law school 
training afforded a thorough knowledge of the technique of the profession, 
which was strengthened by experience in the practice as the years went by. 
He was received as a member of the Kanawha County Bar in 1886, and his 
practice very soon widened so as to include all the State and United States 
courts. Almost from the beginning his practice in all the courts was large 
and profitable. 

He was a hard student of law and kept abreast of the decisions and the 
textbooks, thus dignifying the profession by exhibiting in the practice the 
highest types of integrity and fidelity in his calling. One of his able 
associates of the Kanawha Bar, after his demise, thus spoke of him: 
‘“No obituary of Judge Littlepage can be fully appreciated unless it be read 
in the light of full knowledge of his remarkable personality. One must 
know of his struggles as a boy, his devotion to his mother who died several 
years ago; his originality, resourcefulness and dynamic energy; his exuber- 
ance of spirits and genuine, while unique, social qualities; and last, but 
not least, one must have crossed the threshold of his hospitable home, and 
have felt the warmth of greeting and imbibed the spirit of family accord 
at his fireside, to understand fully what we have in mind to say. His father 
was killed during the Civil War. His mother was left with the property at 
the mouth of Kanawha Two Mile as the only means of supporting a family 
of five husky boys and two girls. The mother did her part well. She kept 
the family together; organized the forces of all and developed in her sons 
her own remarkable powers. Till her death she was not only the beloved 
mother and companion of all, but their acknowledged leader.’’ 

In polities, as in law, he was whole-hearted and thorough. He was the 
Democratic candidate for Circuit Clerk in 1884 and, while defeated, ran 
ahead of his ticket. He was the Democratic nominee for Circuit Judge in 
1912 and was elected for the term ending January 1, 1921. As a Judge he 
was untiring, courteous, prompt and fair. He seemed to strive to find the 
truth in every eontroversy and then to work for the nearest approximation 
to justice. He was respected and loved by the members of the Bar, and 
there is no question that, among the masses of the people, he was probably 
the most popular man in this section of the State. 

The office of Cireuit Judge in the Kanawha Circuit is no sinecure. It 
requires a strong constitution to hold up under the work and strain 
demanded by a faithful and successful discharge of its duties. Judge 
Littlepage needed a long rest when he entered upon its duties, but he 
worked harder on the Bench than he did in the practice of law. He gave 
about twelve to fifteen hours a day to official duties and the terrible strain 
began to show upon him two years before his death. Against the advice 
of friends and the pleadings of his family he clung to his task till he was 
compelled to give up, and at last ‘‘he fell asleep.’’ 

Judge Littlepage’s force of will, self-reliance and courage were more than 
common. Into whatever duty he entered he threw his strong personality, 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 205 


and he never failed when he ought to have succeeded. He feared no 
antagonist and was unfaithful to no client. As a Judge he sought only to 
be just. He was always cheerful and optimistic and the effect of his 
associations were always reassuring. 

He was united in marriage with Miss Mollie Kemp in 1887. Three 
children resulted from their marriage —B. Kemp Littlepage, who is the 
present Prosecuting Attorney of Kanawha County, Mrs. George R. Wood 
and Miss Charlie Littlepage, all of whom are residents of Charleston. 


Hon. Joseph H. Gaines, A.B., A.M. 


Mr. Gaines was born in the city of Washington, D. C., September 3, 1864, 
and is the son of Theophilus Gaines, who was a Major of United States 
Volunteers in the late Civil War between the States. Major Gaines settled 
in Fayette County, West Virginia, in 1867, and engaged in the practice of 
the law, where our subject attended the public schools and later became a 
student at the West Virginia University, and still later he entered Princeton 
University, from which institution he graduated with the degree of Bachelor 
ot Arts. Subsequently the degree of Master of Arts, pro merito, was con- 
ferred upon him by his alma mater. Thereafter he read law under the 
direction of his father, passed the required examination and was admitted 
to the Bar of Fayette County in 1887. Being thoroughly equipped from 
an educational point of view, and being gifted as a public speaker, he very 
soon took high rank both as a lawyer and an advocate, and became a 
well known and highly esteemed lawyer in Fayette and the surrounding 
counties. Being desirous of a wider field of usefulness, and broader oppor- 
tunities, he became a resident of Charleston, the capital of the State, 
where he has since resided and is still practicing his profession. 

He is a Republican in his political affiliations and was appointed by 
President McKinley United States District Attorney for the State of West 
Virginia in 1897, wherein he proved to be a lawyer of superior attainments and 
consequently filled that high and responsible office with great acceptability. 
He resigned the same in June, 1901, to accept a seat in the American 
Congress, to which he had been elected in the campaign of 1900, and was 
subsequently re-elected to that high position for four consecutive terms, 
which made ten years of service in the Congress of the United States from 
the Third District of the State. 

While Mr. Gaines is known and accepted as a lawyer of splendid attain- 
ments, yet he is best known as a Congressman of pre-eminent standing and 
ability. During his ten years’ service in the Congress he was a member of 
several important committees, including Ways and Means, the most import- 
ant of all the committees of the House of Representatives. On these com- 
mittees, and the floor of the House, he made for himself a national reputa- 
tion as an able, judicious and wise legislator. He devoted much time to 


206 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


the careful study of all political questions and became an authority upon 
all branches of political economy, and was and is sought after by the 
political committees of a number of the States to discuss such measures 
before the people during political campaigns. 

Mr. Gaines is a man of upright and blameless personal character and has 
acquitted himself well in all of the public positions he has ever held. He 
is absolutely incorruptible, is severely candid, is essentially just, and his 
ability is unusual. He was defeated in his sixth campaign for a seat in 
Congress, and although he has many times since been pressed to re-enter 
political life he has persistently declined to do so, as he prefers the practice 
vf his profession, in which he holds a high rank, to the turmoils and the 
ups and downs of political life. He has a wife and five children. His home 
life is ideal. Naturally hopeful and happy, his hours with his friends are 
the oases in a strenuous life. Among his friends he is always social, joyous 
and happy, and he has a remarkably strong hold upon the people at large. 

In the political campaign of 1916 Mr. Gaines was Chairman of the 
Republican State Executive Committee of West Virginia, which office he 
still holds. 

Since writing the above, he was induced by his many friends to enter 
a State-wide primary campaign of the Republican party of West Virginia 
for the nomination as its candidate for a seat in the United States Senate. 
Whilst it was generally conceded that he was splendidly equipped for the 
position, he was late in entering the contest and was defeated. 


Z 


Major Joseph E. Chilton 


Major Chilton, one of the ablest and best known West Virginia lawyers 
and politicians in the Great Kanawha Valley, head of the well-known, 
State-wide law firm of Chilton, MacCorkle and Chilton, of Charleston, was 
born at Coalsmouth, Kanawha County, Virginia, December 6, 1855, and 
received his education in the common schools and at Shelton College in his 
native county. He read law textbooks in a law office and mastered funda- 
mental principles by close application and unremitting toil. He read with 
a purpose and read to fully comprehend what he knew he must possess to 
become an erudite lawyer. With this single purpose in view he toiled on until 
he was able to pass a creditable examination, and in January, 1877, he was 
admitted to membership in the Kanawha County Bar. He began practicing 
in Boone, Lincoln and Logan counties, and was not long in taking a high 
rank as an attorney in those counties. He was elected Prosecuting Attorney 
of Lincoln and Boone counties in 1884 and was re-elected for a second term 
in both counties. Although a young man he proved to be a vigorous and 
fair prosecutor. His motto was ‘‘Let no guilty man escape.’’? On one 
occasion he went before a Grand Jury and upon his own testimony indicted 
himself for a technical violation of a State statute. When he called the 
docket he plead guilty and paid the fine and costs. We believe there is no 


MAJOR JOSEPH E. CHILTON 


208 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


similar case to. this on record. These are the only public offices ever held 
by Major Chilton. Although he delighted to mix in politics he was never 
a candidate himself except as stated above; his ambitions were satisfied in 
supporting his friends. He is an excellent organizer and a high grade 
platform speaker. Indeed, we know none superior to him, at least in the 
southern part of the State. 

In November, 1887, Major Chilton began the practice of law in Charles- 
ton, as a partner of the late Judge James H. Ferguson, who was chief 
counsel of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad Company, and remained with 
him until the firm of Chilton, MacCorkle and Chilton was organized some 
twenty odd years ago, which consisted of himself, former Governor Mac- 
Corkle, and his brother, William E. Chilton, ex-United States Senator for 
this State——a firm of State-wide reputation, known for the strength and 
standing of its members. Their business embraces all branches of the law, 
but they specialize in large corporation enterprises. 

Major Chilton is large of stature, as well as of brain; at times he is full 
of humor; is thoughtful of the interests of others; is kindly disposed in 
the trial of his causes; is particularly strong as a trial lawyer, being always 
full of resources, and under the pressure of emergencies in a court trial 
his work is often brilliant. He is a most genial companion, a hard worker 
and when interested in a subject he considers no labor too great to devote 
to it. His life as a lawyer, whether judged with reference to labor per- 
formed or pecuniary gain, he stands in the front rank of his profession. 
He is optimistic and cheerful and associations with him are always 
pleasant. 

Major Chilton was a Regent of the West Virginia University during the 
administration of Governor Jackson, is a bachelor and resides with his 
mother in a splendid residence erected by him in the capital city of the 
State. One of the characteristics of the Chilton brothers is their devotion 
to their mother, a sweet-spirited old lady who has passed the octogenarian 
milestone. 

He received his military title by being an officer on the staff of the late 
Governor Jacob B. Jackson. No man has done more-to develop the great 
natural resources of the southern portion of West Virginia than he. 


Elbert Lee Nuckolls, LL.B. 


Mr. Nuckolls is a native of Gambetta, Virginia, where he was born 
August 2, 1868. His parents were Thomas and Jestin Nuckolls, who were 
also Virginians. He was educated at Wood Lawn Normal School and at 
Washington and Lee University, from which latter institution he received 
the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He was admitted to the Bar at Hillsville, 
Virginia in 1893. Shortly thereafter he came to West Virginia and located 
at Fayetteville, the county seat of Fayette County, where he now resides, 
and is a member of the well-established law firm of Dillon and Nuckolls, 
whe has a leading practice in all State and Federal Courts of the southern 


E. L. NUCKOLLS 


210 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


part of West Virginia. They are both lawyers of distinction and they 
have a large and profitable clientele. 

Our subject has been, since his admission to the Bar, giving all his time 
and energy to the single object of making himself a leader in his pro- 
fession. While he is a Democrat in politics, he has never sought political 
favors of any kind, but has toiled early and late in his law office, giving his 
best efforts to all the branches of the law common to his locality, until he 
has attained a prominent standing among the leading lawyers of the 
southern part of West Virginia. This is one of the reasons for his high 
attainments in his profession. He is of strong physique and possesses good 
health, splendid social qualities and great powers of endurance. He is one 
of the kind of men who rarely, if ever, fail to bring honor and success to 
one’s calling in life. Later on when he becomes more fully established in 
the law, it is possible he may heed the many calls of his friends, as 
Theodore Roosevelt expressed it, to ‘‘cast his hat’’ in the political arena 
and become a candidate for some high office in the power and possession of 
the people. 

His professional traits are fashioned in the mold of law, his morale in the 
east of rectitude. The simplicity of his virtues as a lawyer and a citizen 
admit no vanity or affectation and he enjoys with modesty the standing he 
has attained in his profession and the respect of the people with whom he 
associates. His personal character is above reproach and his integrity is 
unimpeachable. He is a safe and sane counselor and his advice on any legal 
question is worthy of the most serious consideration. He commanded success 
and he deserved it. 

Mr. Nuckolls and his law partner, Mr. C. W. Dillon, published a flexible 
bound copy of the Code of West Virginia a few years ago, which, as a 
poeket edition, was almost universally used by West Virginia lawyers and 
proved to be a helpful companion in everyday practice. 

He has a wife and two children and is living happily at Fayetteville 
among the foot-hills of the Allegheny Mountains, which span the State 
from its northern to its southern boundaries. 

He is an active member of the Masonic Fraternity, from the Blue Lodge 
to the Shrine, and is one of the most useful members of the State Bar 
Association, being at present a member of the Executive Council, and has 
not, for years, failed to attend its annual sessions. 


Hon. William Rootes Thompson 


Mr. Thompson is the son of Benjamin S. and Elizabeth Lewis Thompson, 
well-known residents of West Virginia. He was born at Coals Mouth (now 
St. Albans), Kanawha County, Virginia, in 1856. He received his primary 
education in private and public schools of his native county. Later he 
attended the West Virginia University, at Morgantown, from which he 
became an honor graduate. He was admitted to the Bar of Summers County, 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 211 


at Hinton, its seat of justice, in 1880. He was then a young man of 
striking appearance, of medium height, graceful and erect. He was, there- 
fore, not long in finding his way into public life. He possessed a delicacy 
of sentiment which characterized his conduct at all times; also a quietness 
of demeanor, an utter absence of display or of harshness and a suavity and 
gentleness to an extent that no act of his offended even the humblest 
citizen. His dominant characteristic is his integrity. He never allowed 
himself to compromise a principle, always holding that principle is 
indivisible. To him justice is a supreme principle and he never allows 
himself to waiver from it even for a cherished friend or kinsman. He 
possesses a fertile brain and his diction is unusual. He has an acute dis- 
crimination and a relish for the ludicrous, which make him one of the most 
genial of companions. No one who knows him well will deny that his 
proper place as a lawyer is among the foremost men in that calling in the 
entire Commonwealth. And better than all, he can be fully trusted. 

From early manhood he revealed a somewhat natural taste for politics; 
and yet he never allowed it, to any considerable degree, to interfere with 
his success as a lawyer. With him, it has always been his determination 
to keep the law first and foremost, making politics take second place, for 
the reason that politics with him is a recreation and not a business. The 
only offices he ever held were strictly in the line of his profession. He was 
Prosecuting Attorney of Summers County from 1880 to 1885, to which he 
was elected as a Democrat. As a matter of fact he never was anything 
but a Democrat, and he proved himself to be an able and just prosecutor. 
During President Cleveland’s first administration he served as Assistant 
District Attorney for the State of West Virginia. Here, again, he showed 
himself to be a strong and just official. Later on he was the nominee by 
acclimation of his party for Governor of the Commonwealth, but was 
defeated along with his entire ticket, notwithstanding the fact that he 
received several thousand more votes than any other candidate on his 
ticket. 

For many years he has resided in the city of Huntington, West Virginia, 
where his law firm, composed of the Hon. Z. T. Vinson and himself, have 
conducted a large and profitable law business in all the courts of West 
Virginia, the United States District Court and Cireuit Court of Appeals 
for the Fourth Judicial Cireuit and the Supreme Court of the United States. 
His practice includes all branches of the law, but both his partner and 
himself specialize in corporation practice, which has been large, profitable 
and successful. 

Mr. Thompson married Miss Salie H. Huie in 1899 and they have one son. 
He is a member of the Protestant Episcopal Chureh and the Freemasons 
and Odd Fellows societies. He takes a deep interest in the progress and 
welfare of his native State. He is modest and retiring and has the con- 
fidence of the people generally. 


ho 
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Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Judge Jonathan T. Graham 


Judge Graham is one of the prominent members of the West Virginia 
Bench and Bar. He was born at Oil City, Pennsylvania, December 11, 1865, 
and is a son of William T. and Lucy Ann Graham, of the Keystone State. 
The son came to West Virginia in 1892 and settled at Wayne, Wayne County, 
and entered upon the practice of the law. He was educated in the public 
and normal schools of western Pennsylvania and New York. After leaving 
school he read law and was admitted to the Bar of Venango County, 
Pennsylvania in the summer of 1892. Having previously decided to remove 
his residence to West Virginia, he located in Wayne County and was 
received as a member of the Bar in September, 1892, and at once entered 
upon the active practice of his profession. His diligence, energy and fidelity 
to the interests of his clients soon won for him deserved success and 
remunerative pecuniary rewards. Although he has always been a pro- 
nounced Republican, he was elected Prosecuting Attorney of his newly 
adopted county, which had a large Democratic majority, and served to 
the satisfaction of all the people. By this time he had become, from 
experience and application, a very successful counselor and attorney; and 
being thoroughly upright and reliable in all of his business transactions, he 
had become very popular with the people. His business kept on increasing 
until he decided to seek a wider field, so he moved his office to the city of 
Huntington, which was in an adjoining county to Wayne and where his 
business in all of the courts rapidly increased, and where he took a high 
rank at that very able Bar. 

In the campaign of 1913 he was the nominee of the Republican party for 
Judge of the Sixth Judicial Circuit, composed of the counties of Cabell, 
Putnam and uincoln, was elected, and for the past five years he has worn 
the judicial ermine with both dignity and ability. He is a most genial 
companion, of splendid address and naturally attracts men to him. He is 
a hard worker, and when concerned in a subject he considers no labor too 
arduous to devote to it. As a lawyer he was gifted with unusual logical 
powers and a faculty of remarkably lucid expression, and his integrity was 
equal to his accuracy. As a Judge he is absolutely sincere and just and is 
giving satisfaction to the lawyers and litigants of his cireuit. 

Judge Graham married Miss Mary L. Chapman in 1895. They have but 
one child —a son now seventeen years of age. 

The Judge is a member of the Orders of Masons and Elks and his per- 
manent home is in the city of Huntington, the second largest city in the 
State. 

Judge Graham’s friends all know he goes by the name of ‘‘John,’’ when 
in fact his correct name is ‘‘Jonathan.’’ He feels that this mistake should 
be corrected and that he owes it to his beloved mother to use the name given 
to him by her; and we beg to add that we feel the same way. 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 213 


Zachary Taylor Vinson, B.S. 


One of the foremost and best known of West Virginia lawyers is tne 
subject of this brief sketch. He is the son of Hon. Samuel S. and Mary 
Vinson, and was born in Wayne County, Virginia, December 22, 1857. After 
attending the public schools of his native county for several years he 
entered Bethany College in Brooke County, Virginia (now West Virginia), 
and graduated B.S. in the class of 1878. He then entered the law depart- 
ment of the University of Virginia, where he remained one year, and being 
desirous to become familiar with Northern methods of practice, he went 
to Boston University and finished his course in law. This division of schools 
prevented him from receiving a degree, which, however, he had fully earned. 
He returned to West Virginia and was admitted to the Bar of Cabell 
County in 1885, where he has since practiced with a remarkable degree of 
success. For a number of years past he has been the senior member of the 
distinguished and well-known law firm of Vinson and Thompson, of Hunting- 
ton. He is a thoroughly educated lawyer, and ever since he entered the 
profession he has been a hard worker. He is strong in both body and 
intellect and possesses unusual powers. When he undertakes the manage- 
ment of a case he goes to the bottom of it, and when it comes on for trial 
he is ready for any question that can be raised. While he is always kindly 
disposed, he is, at the same time, self-reliant and self-asserting and is 
unyielding in any matter wherein he believes he is right. He is a great 
trial lawyer, and when one has contested an important cause with him he 
finds he has found an opponent worthy of his steel. He is remarkable for 
antipodal elements of character. That is to say, the active and passive 
features are so set over against each other as to give him a unique standing 
among his fellows. While he is a formidable contestant in debate, he is 
just and generous, and according to others, he is not slow in demanding the 
same in return. He is noteworthy for quietness of force and reservation 
of power. With a branch of vision above the ordinary and remarkable 
insightedness and absolute calmness in his poise, and never disturbed by the 
clash or clamor of contest, he metes out his strength in proportion to the 
demands of the occasion which elicited it, and leaves the impression that 
abundant power is held in reserve for whatever emergency might arise. 
We believe that such an one is entitled to be classed high as a courthouse 
trial lawyer. 

Mr. Vinson has practiced in all State and Federal Courts and has many 
times appeared in the Supreme Court of the United States. He is also 
“fat home,’’ so to speak, in all branches of the profession, but he has 
specialized no little in corporation practice, where he seems to feel still 
more ‘‘at home.’’ We will mention but one particular case, out of the 
many in which he has appeared as counsel, because he made some neice law, 
revising an old, apparently well-settled principle in the courts of England, 
which had been followed by the Supreme Courts of a large number of our 
American States, relating to subjacent and lateral support of the surface 


214 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


_ 


of land by removing the coal thereunder. The decisions of the courts 
formerly required the coal operator to leave unmined a sufficiency of 
columns of coal to prevent the sinking or caving in of the surface, other- 
wise he would be held liable for damages caused by injury to the surface. 
The West Virginia Court, with one Judge dissenting, held that ‘‘where 
a deed conveys the coal under a tract of land, together with the right to 
enter upon and under said land and to mine, excavate and remove all of it, 
there is no implied reservation in such an instrument that the grantee must 
leave enough coal to support the surface in its original position.’’ 

This new view of this most important subject has been sustained by some 
Federal authorities, notably the Court of Appeals of the Fourth Judicial 
Circuit, and is most likely to become the settled law of the land, because 
when one purchases the coal under a parcel of real estate, and no reserva- 
tions are made in the deed, the presumption is he buys all of it, and there- 
fore has the right to remove what he purchases and pays for, without refer- 
ence to damage to the surface of the land from which the coal has been 
taken. Anyway, it is the law in West Virginia, and we congratulate 
Mr. Vinson on having a leading part in so important a cause. 

Mr. Vinson is a Republican in polities, but never held a public office. 
Practically his entire life has been devoted to the study and practice of 
the law. He is a member of the Christian Church and the Odd Fellows and 
the Elks Benevolent Orders. He is a member of the Delta Tau Delta 
College Fraternity, which was organized at the college of which he is an 
alumnus. He married Miss Mary Chaffin in 1901 and has one child. He 
is a public spirited citizen and is one of the developers of the city of 
Huntington, where he has resided the greater part of his life. . 


Robert George Linn, LL.B. 


Mr. Linn, one of the leading lawyers of the Kanawha Bar, son of Robert 
Linn, who was also a lawyer of prominence, was born at Glenville, Gilmer 
County, Virginia, April 6, 1849, received his education at Witherspoon Insti- _ 
tute, Butler, Pennsylvania, and the Cincinnati Law School, from which well 
known College of Law he graduated in April 1870, receiving the degree of 
Bachelor of Laws; the same year he was licensed to practice at the Gilmer 
County Bar; was elected Prosecuting Attorney of that county in October 
1870 and served two years; was attentive to his public duties and served 
efficiently for the full term. In 1872 he was elected Prosecuting Attorney of 
the adjoining county of Calhoun; became a resident of Grantsville, Calhoun 
County, and remained there until March 1, 1884, when he returned to Gilmer 
County, where he continued to reside until 1900, when he located permanently 
in Charleston, the capital of the State. He married Miss Mary Hamilton, 
of Weston, Lewis County, June 12, 1876. Eight children resulted from this 
marriage, two of whom are deceased. A son, Robert, who graduated from 


. LINN 


G 


= RK. 


HON 


216 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


the law department of the West Virginia University in the class of 1906, 
is a member of his father’s present law firm. 

Mr. Linn from early manhood has been an untiring worker, and his 
practice has been of a general character and has been spread out over several 
contiguous counties. He had several branch law firms; for example, the one 
in Braxton County, for several years was Linn and Byrne; in Gilmer County 
the firm for eleven years was Linn and Withers; in Lewis County, Linn and 
Brannon; in Calhoun, Linn and Hamilton; and in Charleston since 1889 the 
law firm is Linn and Byrne. In the earlier years of his practice it was his cus- 
tom to attend the terms of court in several counties wherein he maintained 
partnerships and assist in the trial of important causes, but since his location 
at Charleston the business of his present firm has become so extensive that 
he seldom attends court sessions in any of the counties wherein he formerly 
had an extensive practice He is an able, ingenuous trial lawyer and handles 
his cases skilfully, and generally successfully; consequently he maintains a 
large clientage. He is never short of business, and he may be found in his 
office at all reasonable hours, except when engaged in court sessions. 

Moreover, he is careful, clear-headed and thorough in his work. He is 
thoroughly grounded in the law and devotes special care to the preparation 
of his pleadings. He is a man of marked courage, and yet is fair and 
courteous. His force of will and self-reliance are far above the average and 
his integrity is equal to his accuracy. He asks no favors and fears no 
adversary. He is strong in body and mind. In polities he is a Democrat, 
but he is much more of a lawyer than a politician. He never aspired to any 
office, except positions strictly in the line of his profession. As we have 
stated’ above, he was six years Prosecuting Attorney of two different 
counties, and in 1916 he was vigorously pressed as a candidate for Cireuit 
Judge of the Kanawha Circuit, a place he was well qualified to fill, but 
failed to secure the nomination. Had he been chosen he would have 
honored both the Bench and the Bar. 

Mr. Linn is a member of the Presbyterian Church. He is both upright 
and reliable in all of his dealings. Since writing the above Mr. Linn died, 
May 13, 1919. 


Hon. Romeo H. Freer 


Mr. Freer was a native of Ohio and was born in Trumbull County, of that 
State, November 8, 1845. He grew up on a farm, attended the public 
schools and spent one term at Oberlin College, Ohio, which was the extent 
of his schooling. At sixteen, in 1861, he entered the United States Volun- 
teer Army and served until the close of the Civil War; at its close he 
settled in Charleston; taught school for two years, read law in the office 
of Smith and Cracraft, and in 1868 was admitted to the Charleston Bar. 
Being gifted in public speaking, and possessing almost unlimited energy 
and ambition, he soon forged to the front as an attorney, especially in 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 217 


criminal cases; in 1877 he formed a partnership with Captain H. C. 
MeWhorter, who subsequently was elected a member of the Supreme Court 
of Appeals of the State. The firm controlled a large business in all the 
courts of the State and the Federal courts as well. The firm of McWhorter 
and Freer continued until 1872, when Mr. Freer was appointed by President 
Grant United States Consul to Nicaragua, C. A., where he remained for 
four years. 

In the meantime, however, before entering the consular service, he served 
as Prosecuting Attorney for the counties of Fayette and Boone and also 
as Assistant Prosecutor for Kanawha County, and later he was elected 
Prosecuting Attorney for his adopted county. He was regarded as an able 
and successful prosecutor. He moved his residence to Harrisville, in 
Ritchie County, in 1882, and in 1890 he was elected to the West Virginia 
Legislature from that county. For a number of years he was an active and 
leading member of the National Guard of West Virginia and worked his 
way from private to the rank of Brigadier-General. He was also a very 
efficient member of the Grand Army of the Republic, having filled all of 
its official positions in this State. 

He was a Republican in politics and participated in every State and 
National campaign for more than forty years. He was inimitable as a 
public speaker and possessed unusual popularity. Im fact, he was an idol 
of the masses. In 1890 he was elected Attorney-General of the State. He 
was later elected Judge of the Circuit Court of the circuit in which he 
resided and proved to be a successful jurist. While holding that office he 
was elected to the Congress of the United States, retiring of his own 
volition at the end of one term. The last of his public service was as 
Postmaster of the town of Harrisville, which he held to the time of his 
death, which occurred before he had quite reached his seventieth milestone. 

Judge Freer was thrice married: first to Miss Lillie Fuller, of Warren, 
Ohio, by whom he had one child who died in infancy; second, to Miss Effie 
Brace, of Charleston, by whom he had a son, R. H. Freer, Jr.; and third, to 
Miss Iams, of Ritchie County, by whom he had no children. 

Judge Freer was a member of the Presbyterian Church and will ever be 
remembered by the people of West Virginia as one of the State’s most 
brilliant citizens. 


Judge John M. Woods, LL.B. 


The subject of this brief sketch is a native of Stafford County, Virginia. 
and is the son of F. M. and Julia M. Woods. He was born November 1, 
1869, and was carefully taught for one year by his father; attended a 
private school in Martinsburg for two or three years and the High School 
of that city three years; had two years’ training at Pantops Academy, near 
Charlottesville, Virginia; spent the Freshman year at Washington and 
Jefferson College at Washington, Pennsylvania; taught a private school in 


218 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Martinsburg the next year and later took his law course at Washington and 
Lee University at Lexington, Virginia, from which he graduated in 1892 
with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He received an offer to teach two 
hours a day at the Potomac Academy in Romney, West Virginia, and taught 
at that institution for two years, from 1892 to 1894, and was admitted to 
the Bar in Romney, West Virginia, while there in August, 1892. On the 
1st day of March, 1893, he formed a partnership with the late Col. Robt. 
W. Monroe in that town and remained in partnership with him until 
March, 1896, when he returned to Martinsburg and opened a law office 
there. He was in partnership with the late J. Nelson Wisner under 
the firm name of Wisner and Woods from January 1, 1897, to January 1, 
1898, when the partnership was dissolved. April 1, 1899, he formed a 
partnership with Senator Charles J. Faulkner and Hon. 8. W. Walker under 
the firm name of Faulkner, Walker and Woods, which continued until he 
went on the Bench of the Circuit Court the 1st of January, 1913. He was 
a successful practitioner and an able trial lawyer. 

In April, 1902, upon the death of the late U. S. G. Pitzer, Prosecuting 
Attorney of Berkeley County, he was appointed by Judge E. Boyd Faulkner 
to fill the vacaney caused by his death until the following November, when 
the late Ward B. Lindsay was elected to fill the vacancy for the residue of 
Mr. Pitzer’s term. He was vigorous in seeing to it that all infraetors of 
the laws of the State in Berkeley County were properly punished. He was 
thoroughly conscientious and just in the discharge of his official duties. 

He was elected Judge of the 18th Judicial Cireuit, composed of the 
counties of Berkeley, Jefferson and Morgan, in November, 1912, and entered 
upon his duties on the Ist day of January following. He is still serving 
most satisfactorily in that high and responsible position. _ 

He was married the 16th day of Cetober, 1901, to Miss Eleanor Tabb. 
They have two children, a daughter and a son. Their home is in the 
beautiful and prosperous city of Martinsburg. 

Judge Woods is well grounded in the fundamental principles of the law 
and is an able, upright, conscientious Judge. 


Hon. William W. Brannon 


The subject of this sketch is one of the noted family of Brannon lawyers 
who first came to this State from Winchester, Virginia, upwards of a half 
century ago and settled at Weston, Lewis County, in what is’ now West 
Virginia. He is the son of Stewart J. and Mary (Carper) Brannon, and was 
born in Winchester in the Valley of Virginia, November 13, 1853. For a 
time he attended a private school at Winchester, where he received a fairly 
good rudimentary education; and after coming to Lewis County he pieced 
out a still more complete English education than he had already received in 
the mother Commonwealth. Being of an ambitious turn of mind, and being 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 2:19 


naturally industrious, he was a constant companion of books and, therefore, 
allowed no opportunity to pass him unimproved to store his mind with all 
the valuable knowledge and information within his reach. While it is true 
Mr. Brannon never attended a college, yet it is also true that through 
perseverance and unabated energy he never ceased his efforts until he 
secured a passable English education, which has served him well through 
life. He has a good vocabulary; is fluent in speech, forceful in expression, 
uses the best of language and argues a case with fluency and zeal. Indeed, 
it would be difficult to find a better trial lawyer at any Bar of any State 
than William W. Brannon. 

He began the study of law under the direction of his two eminent uncles, 
John and Henry Brannon, both of whom, in later years honored the 
judiciary of West Virginia, and the nephew proved to be an apt student. 
In due time he was able to pass a creditable examination and was admitted 
to the Weston Bar in 1881, where he has since practiced with unremitting 
zeal and with abundant success; and it is safe to say that W. W. Brannon 
is now one of the leading lawyers in the central portion of West Virginia. 
He possessed a vigor, perseverance and inquisitiveness of mind which per- 
mitted nothing to pass from under his observation without his thorough 
comprehension of its character; and to this trained habit of sensation and 
perception was added a well-regulated judgment. Whilst these qualities 
will assert their superiority in whatever sphere they may be exercised, they 
are, of all others, the most important qualifications for success at the Bar. 

Mr. Brannon is methodical and laborious in the preparation of his cases 
and is always well armed with precedent and authority; hence there is a 
fixed precision attending the positions he takes which skill or sophistry 
eannot shake. His judgment is initiative and his logical powers spontaneous. 
He rarely indulges in the lofty strains of rhetoric and never in impassioned 
challenges of applause. He readily perceives the main points of a question 
and addresses himself to the gist of the controversy —a rule which com- 
mends itself and would greatly enhance the expedition of the courts and 
the attainment of justice, while it would often lift a heavy burden from 
the patience of both courts and juries. Another feature which adds greatly 
to Mr. Brannon’s success as a lawyer is his uniform placidity and good 
nature; and still another, that of probity and integrity. He is thoroughly 
trustworthy and dependable. 

He is a reliable Democrat, but outside of being Mayor of the city of 
Weston from 1886 to 1890 he never held any political office, except one term 
as a member of the West Virginia Legislature, and he proved to be a very 
able and useful member. We find we are mistaken. He was four years a 
member of the West Virginia Board of Pardons. Being a good lawyer, and 
knowing the weight of evidence, he was extremely useful in that capacity. 

He married Miss Addie Alkire in 1884 and has two children, and no one 
enjoys home life more than he. He is a Knight of Pythias and an Odd 
Fellow. During Governor Atkinson’s administration he was a valuable 
member of the State Pardon Board. 


220 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Hon. John H. Holt, LL.B., LL.M. 


The subject of this sketch is known, and is generally regarded by the 
people of West Virginia, as one of the ablest and among the most dis- 
tinguished lawyers the State of West Virginia has ever produced. He is, 
to say the least, a very remarkable man. He is a born lawyer —a natural 
lawyer. He is the best lawyer in a bad case the writer ever knew. He 
can get from under a court decision against him with a mildness and 
suavity that surprises an opponent. We do not believe he ever lost a case 
he ought to have won. Only a first grade attorney can accomplish that 
feat. Mr. Holt has done it many times. He has lost many hotly contested 
big causes, but it was not through any fault or neglect of his. Good lawyers 
often lose cases and they ought to. The ablest lawyers are generality 
the ones who are employed in the worst cases, and Mr. Holt no doubt gets 
his share of them. He is an orator of great power, and is so self-poised 
and affable, and so ready and forceful in rejoinder it is difficult to force 
him from any position he takes. He is so even and equable im temper and 
manner that he is never disconcerted or disturbed when taken unawares 
by opposing counsel in any cause. He appears to be ready for whatever 
may come, and therein is one of his greatest points, and another is he 
knows the law and knows how to apply it. Is there any wonder that he 
has succeeded and succeeded grandly? 

Mr. Holt is the son of Judge Homer A. Holt, who was a distinguished 
lawyer and jurist in his generation, and from him, doubtless, our subject 
inherited much of the power and ability he possesses as a lawyer and an 
advocate. He was born in Braxton County, West Virginia, August 10, 
1860, and was educated at Randolph-Macon College, Virginia, the Uni- 
versity of Virginia, Georgetown (D. C.) University, and a post graduate 
course in law at Yale University. In these great schools he studied the 
classics, literature and law, taking the degrees of Bachelor of Science, 
Bachelor of Laws and Master of Laws. Thus receiving as thorough train- 
ing as could be imparted to an ambitious young man in this or any other 
country. He, therefore, started in his life work ‘‘ with a sharp seythe.’’ 
But few young men, before or since, had so thorough a training and equip- 
ment. It is, therefore, no wonder that he has proved successful. After 
these courses of study in four different colleges and universities he located 
for practice in the City of Wheeling, with M. T. Frame as a partner, in 
1887. In 1890 he moved to Huntington, Cabell County, and has since 
remained there, where he has a most lucrative practice in the courts of 
the State and United States, including the Supreme Court of Appeals of 
West Virginia, the United States Cireuit Court of Appeals of the Fourth 
Judicial Cireuit, and the Supreme Court of the United States, where he 
has tried a large number of important causes. He has specialized in cor- 
poration laws; but, as a matter-of fact, he is about as successful in one 
branch of the law as another, and is remarkably successful in all of them. 
He, therefore, should be classed as an able ‘‘ all-round lawyer.’’ 


HON. JOHN H. HOLT 


2122 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


In politics he has always been a Democrat and enjoys the excitement 
““ of the political game.’’ He is not an office-seeker, but has allowed him- 
self to be drafted by his party for important political positions. In 1896 
he was his party’s candidate for Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeals 
of the State to succeed his father, who retired from that highly honorable 
office, but was defeated by his Republican opponent, although he received 
about 2,000 more votes than any other candidate on his party ticket. In 
1890 he was nominated by his party for the office of Governor of the 
Commonwealth and was again defeated, this time also running ahead of 
his ticket. He is a brilliant campaign speaker. He has no superior in the 
State as a platform stump-speaker, and but few, if any, equals. His 
thorough college training and his broad knowledge of the English language 
and English literature, coupled with natural gifts in oratory, have placed 
him in a class of public speakers and advocates difficult to excel. Chival- 
rous and magnanimous in his disposition, he abhors the methods of artifice, 
and spurns that which he believes to be unjust. These well known features 
of his character engage universal confidence in him as a lawyer and the 
highest respect for him as a man. 

In 1886 he married Miss Effie Ewing, a daughter of J. Dallas Ewing, of 
Wheeling, a prominent lawyer of that city, by whom he had four children, 
one of them— Homer —is practicing law with his father in the City of 
Huntington. His wife recently departed this life. 


Judge Marsh Haymond Willis 


The subject of this sketch is one of the brilliant, able and successful 
lawyers and jurists of this Commonwealth. He was born in Ritchie County, 
Virginia, January 31, 1862; is the son of N. G. and Louisa Martin Willis. 
His earlier years were spent upon his father’s farm, where he obtained a 
whipcord muscle and a physical development that have served him well 
as he advanced in life. He is of medium stature, is compactly built, and 
is attractive in appearance, having a full suit of hair which was quite 
gray before he was twenty years of age. He was an industrious student 
in the school of his neighborhood. He became a teacher in the common 
schools at the early age of sixteen, and for several years thereafter his 
time was given principally to that occupation. At the same time he was 
industriously engaged in the acquirement of knowledge and the develop- 
ment of his own vigorous and receptive intellect. For a time he was a 
student at the West Virginia University at Morgantown. Later he entered 
Valparaiso (Indiana) University, from which he graduated cum laude, in 
1886, being the Valedictorian of his class of seventy-six members. For 
a short time he engaged in school teaching in Dakota, Wisconsin and West 
Virginia, while at the same time he was engaged in reading law. In 1890 
he was granted a license to practice in the Circuit Court of Doddridge 
County, where he resided for a number of years and built up a profitable 


\ 
\ 


JUDGE M. H. WILLIS 


224 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


clientage. His career is a splendid illustration of the sure triumph that 
perseverance and grit will bring to a young man endowed with genuine . 
merit in his make up, and a firm determination to leave his impress upon 
the times in which he lived. In 1900 he was named without opposition 
in Convention as the Republican candidate for Judge of the Fourth Judicial 
Circuit to- fill the unexpired term of Hon. Romeo H. Freer, who had 
resigned to accept a seat in Congress. He was elected and immediately 
entered upon the duties of his office. All of the counties of this Cireuit 

were in the oil belt and the work was very heavy. The Legislature of 1903 

rearranged the Judicial Circuits, and in so doing took off Ritchie County, 
leaving Doddridge, Tyler and Wetzel together, and called the new Cireuit 
the Second instead of the Fourth. His work on the Bench was so satis- 
factory to the Bar and the people generally that he was renominated with- 
out opposition, and was re-elected for the full term of eight years. 

He is naturally, as well as by education, fitted for the law, a thorough, 
close and logical reasoner, his early absorption of the underlying principles 
of jurisprudence was a solid foundation for the study, observations and 
experience for an active practitioner and an able judge. He possesses in 
a high degree the powers of convincing statement, and above all is honor- 
able and upright in all of his acts. He is a good lawyer, a just judge and 
an ideal citizen. 

In 1887 he was united in marriage with Anita Magness, of Waterloo, 
Iowa. To them one child, Frances Louise, was born January 21, 1892, and 
she departed this life September 15, 1901. 

While serving as a Circuit Judge he moved his residence to New Martins- 
ville, Wetzel County, where he is now engaged in the active practice of 
his profession. 


Judge Thomas Perry Jacobs, A.M.. 


The subject of this sketch, who is a descendant of sturdy stock, long 
identified with American institutions, was born in Allegheny County, Mary- 
land, January 27, 1852. Shortly thereafter his parents moved to Preston 
County, Virginia, and after residing there a short time they finally settled 
permanently at Morgantown, the seat of justice of Monongalia County, 
Virginia, where our subject grew to manhood. He received his education 
in the Preston Academy, and later graduated from the West Virginia 
University in 1874, carrying off the honors of his class. During his e¢ol- 
legiate course he became-a student of law, and after graduating from the 
Department of Liberal Arts of the State University he vigorously pursued 
his law studies in the law offices of Berkshire and Sturgiss at Morgantown, 
where he became proficient in the legal text books required of students of 
law. In 1875 he located at New Martinsville, Wetzel County, West Vir- 
ginia, and in that year was admitted to practice, where he has ever since 
resided. 


JUDGE THOMAS P. JACOBS 


226 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


As a lawyer he has long ranked among the most able and distinguished 
in West Virginia. On the civil side his practice has been extensive and 
varied, covering many counties of the State, and he has occasionally 
appeared with success in important criminal proceedings. He has special- 
ized in the law relating to mining and operating for oil and gas. Many 
important principles now universally held, having been established in cases 
with which he was connected as counsel or during his term as a Circuit 
Judge, to which position he was elected in 1888, which he ably filled for 
eight years, proving himself to be not only a learned lawyer, but a sound, 
painstaking judge. During his term on the Bench in 1890 he conducted 
the Summer Law School of the West Virginia University, and was so suc- 
cessful as a teacher that the Board of Regents tendered him the Deanship 
of that institution, which, however, he declined. 

Judge Jacobs has been a regular attendant upon and a leader of the 
West Virginia Bar Association for more than a quarter of a century, and 
was its President in 1895. 

In politics he has always been a Republican. He served five terms 
as Mayor of New Martinsville. In 1884 he was a member of the National 
Convention which nominated James G. Blaine for President. On the stump 
he has ever been a‘sound and convincing speaker. 

He is an official member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and has as 
a Lay Delegate represented his Conference in the General Conference of 
that Church. He is a Freemason of high rank, and during 1913-1914 
served as Most Worshipful Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of West 
Virginia, and is held in high esteem by the members of that great Fraternity 
throughout the State. 

He resides at New Martinsville and commands a large and profitable 
law business. 

Since writing the above we are pained to announce the death of Judge 
Jacobs, which occurred at his home October 29, 1918. 


Hon. Uriah Barnes 


Uriah Barnes was born in Jackson County, West Virginia, thirty-five 
years ago, where he spent his early life in arduous toil on the farm. He 
was educated in the public schools and the State University. At the age of 
sixteen, he taught the first of two successive terms in the common schools. 

He left the farm with a powerful physique, a vast repository of dynamic 
power. With this he combines an equally powerful intellect, exemplifying 
in a high degree the ideal of the Latin maxim, Mens sana in corpore sano. 
Thus equipped he early entered upon life in Charleston, where he began to 
expand his intellectual horizon by reading widely along lines carefully 
marked out. Outside of his regular employment, he found time to pre- 
seribe a rigid course of self-imposed discipline, which he followed with an 
iron will and a fixity of purpose rarely, if ever, excelled, until he had 


HON. URIAH BARNES 


228 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


covered a wide field, similar to that embraced in the college courses. He 
absorbed knowledge easily, and read with a profound understanding. These 
qualities, coupled with a retentive memory and a habit of mastering every 
subject or task he took in hand, soon showed very marked and substantial 
results, so that properly it may be said he had won a place among highly 
educated men before he entered upon his university training. 

For four years he was law instructor in the College of Law of West 
Virginia University. He also acted for a year as Secretary of the College 
of Agriculture and the Agricultural Experiment Station at the University. 

For many years he was engaged in work with the Supreme Court of 
Appeals, and in the exhaustive investigation of cases pending therein. He 
has done much important work as a law writer and editor on legal text 
books and on special articles for legal encyclopedias. He recent!y compiled 
and edited the ordinances of the City of Charleston. He was the editor 
of the West Virginia Code of 1916, in the preparation of which he made 
a careful and exhaustive study of all the state statutes. This book is 
now the hand book of the laws. 

He conceived the idea of publishing all the Federal Laws in one handy 
volume. This had never been accomplished, and it was an undertaking 
requiring an enormous amount of labor and great editorial skill. The task 
was finally completed early in 1919, when Barnes’ Federal Code appeared. 
He brought to bear in this work a comprehensive knowledge, a sound and 
discriminating judgment, a genius for editorial detail that have combined 
to bring him universal recognition as a master in his field. The remarkable 
sale of the Federal Code in every State in the Union and abroad, and the 
unsolicited encomiums upon it, coming from beneh and bar and from 
eminent scholars and educators throughout the country, attest its rank as 
a masterpiece of compilation. 

Mr. Barnes is a member of the local, State and American Bar Associations, 
and the American Institute of Criminal Law ard Criminology. 

He married Miss Lena Belle Ice, and has two children. He is a Methodist, 
and has participated very largely in the civie and social life of the com- 
munity. He is intensely interested in the best in literature, and especially 
in history, sociology, economies and political science. He resides at Charles- 
ton, where he enjoys the full confidence and respect of all who know him, 
and where his honorable life and fair dealing are universally recognized. 


Judge Elisha Boyd Faulkner 


Hon. Elisha Boyd Faulkner, one of the able lawyers and jurists of West 
Virginia, son of Hon. Charles James and Mary W. (Boyd) Faulkner, was 
born near Martinsburg, in what is now West Virginia, July 24, 1841. 
There he passed his early youth attending private schools and studying 
under private tutors. He was also a student at the Winchester (Va.) 
Academy. Later he entered Georgetown, D. C., College, and the University 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 229 


of Virginia; he next attended lectures on Constitutional Law in Paris, 
France, where he was attached to the Legation of the United States, his 
father being Ambassador of the United States at the Court of St. Cloud. 
He has made law his life work in which he attained eminence. From 
1867 to 1872 he lived in Kentucky, leaving Virginia on account of the 
““Test Oath ’’ required to be taken at that date. March 3, 1869, the 
Legislature of West Virginia passed an Act relieving him of taking the 
test oath, but that was not taken advantage of by him. Im 1872 he 
returned to Martinsburg for the practice of law. In granting him his 
certificate preceding his license to practice, Judge Balsh added in the 
certificate: ‘‘ . . . ‘hat he is a man of honest demeanor, unless the 
facet that he has been an officer in the Rebel Army may be regarded as 
affecting his demeanor.’’ He was elected to the House of Delegates of 
West Virginia in 1876; to the State Senate in 1878, declining the Presi- 
dency of that body; appointed a member of the Revisory Committee by the 
Legislature to revise the laws of the State; was defeated for the Demo- 
cratic nomination for Governor at Wheeling in 1884 by a very small vote 
in an exciting convention; during President Cleveland’s administration 
he was tendered the office of Consul General and Agent to Cairo in 1885, 
also Minister to Persia, both being declined. He was appointed Judge of 
the Thirteenth Judicial District, and was three times re-elected to that 
office with little opposition. He has served in all more than twenty-one 
years on the Bench, declining in 1912 to be re-elected. At the time of his 
appointment as Judge he was attorney for the Baltimore and Ohio and the 
Cumberland Valley Railroads; for all the numerous banking institutions 
of Martinsburg and for other large corporations. He was Trustee of the 
Berkeley Springs Corporation. Politically he is a Democrat. Judge Faulk- 
ner’s war record is as follows: At the outbreak of the war he entered the 
Wise Artillery, later joining the Rockbridge Artillery; he was then appointed 
on the staff of Governor Letcher; and afterwards was made a Captain in 
the Provisional Army of the Confederacy. He was captured at the battle 
of Piedmont in June, 1864, when Gen. W. R. Jones was killed, and was 
confined as a prisoner on Johnson’s Island for a year. At the first battle 
of Manassas he received wounds in the ear from a bursting shell. He was 
in many hard fought engagements, including those of Manassas and Cedar 
Creek. He fought as he believed was right, and was a brave soldier in 
the greatest civil conflict of the world’s history. 

February 11, 1868, he married Susan Campbell, of Hopkinsville, Ky., 
daughter of John P. Campbell, of Scotch descent, who died in Hopkinsville 
at the age of 73 years, leaving surviving him his widow, Mary (Buckner) 
Campbell, and eight children, all of whom have now ae away except 
Judge Faulkner’s wife. 

The Judge and his wife have had two children: Mary Buckner, unmar- 
ried; and Nannie Holmes, who died in 1883. In all of his relations at the 
Bar, on the Bench, in his home life, and in his community relations gener- 
ally, Judge Faulkner has always been loyal, true and upright. 


\ a 


230 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Hon. William George Bennett, LL.B. 


This eminent lawyer, judge and distinguished citizen, son of the late 
Hon. Jonathan M. Bennett, died suddenly of heart disease at his home in 
the City of Weston, November 8, 1915, aged sixty-nine years. His untimely 
death proved a shock to his thousands of friends and admirers throughout 
the entire State. He was a native of Lewis County and was well and 
favorably known all over the State of West Virginia. He received his 
early education under private tutors principally in the City of Richmond, 
and in 1866 he graduated from the Virginia Military Institute at Lexing- 
ton. In 1869 he graduated, LL.B., from the Law Department of the Uni- 
versity of Virginia, and shortly thereafter opened a law office in his native 
town of Weston. He possessed a legal mind and being thoroughly grounded 
in the principles of the law, his success from the beginning was almost 
phenomenal. He was elected a Cireuit Court Judge in 1898, and filled that 
responsible office in a most satisfactory manner to lawyers and litigants 
until his retirement in 1905. 

Judge Bennett was always a ‘‘ true blue ’’ Democrat in polities, and 
was one of the idols of his party in the State. Possessing naturally a 
genial, joyful disposition, he was unusually popular with the masses, and 
in his campaigns for official recognition he never failed to secure a large 
following from opposing political organizations. He was defeated for the 
Democratic nomination by only a small margin in 1892, when a candidate 
for Governor of West Virginia. He was nominated by the Democrate party 
for Justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals in 1900, and at the general 
election received a thousand more votes than any other man on his ticket. 
In 1912 he was the nominee of his party for the same position, but was 
again defeated by a reduced majority. 

Judge Bennett was a successful business man as well as an eminent 
lawyer. He was one of the promoters and organizers of the Clarksburg 
and Weston Narrow Gauge Railroad and one of its directors and attorneys 
for many years. He was also connected in a like manner witn the Weston 
and Buckhannon Railroad. While yet a young lawyer he was on one of 
the State Boards of Hospitals for the Insane, and was appointed Commis- 
sioner to assess railroads for taxation in the State. He was probably the 
largest owner of farm lands in Lewis County. He owned six farms, com- 
prising over six thousand acres of land, and his ‘‘ Riverside Farm ’”’ is 
known throughout the entire country. He was an extensive breeder of fine 
bleoded cattle and standard bred horses, and was a director of the Ameri- 
can Association of Trotting Horse Breeders and director of the American 
Register Association. While he followed law practice his special delight 
was in horses of all kinds. 

He was a prominent Mason and had been Grand Master of the Grand 
Lodge of West Virginia. William G. Bennett Lodge No. 46 of Ancient 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 231 


Free and Accepted Masons, of Walkersville. was named in his honor. He 
was also a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. 

Judge Bennett was married in 1872 to Alice, daughter of the late Judge 
John Brannon, of Weston, and a member of one of the most prominent 
families in Lewis County and that section of the State. 


Harold W. Houston 


Mr. Houston, son of Samuel W. and Emma A. Houston, was born at 
Freedom, Noble County, Ohio, March 10, 1872. When the son was young 
in years his parents moved to West Virginia and located for a time in 
Jackson County and finally settled in Kanawha, where he grew to man- 
hood. He received his primary education in the public schools of Jackson 
and Kanawha Counties, which included the Charleston High School, that 
offers a pretty thorough academic course of study. His education in law 
was secured at the West Virginia University. Although his opportunities 
for schooling were somewhat meager, he is far from being without a rather 
liberal education. Even in boyhood he possessed the habits and the strong 
tendencies of a student. He has always been an earnest seeker after 
knowledge, always a reader of books and always an industrious toiler and 
worker. By these methods he has acquired more than an ordinary vocabu- 
lary, and we can justly say he is master of a clear, terse ana vigorous style, 
both in writing and in speaking. He is fluent and forceful in speech, and 
has the reputation and standing, not only as a strong and well balanced 
trial lawyer, but has an unusually clear, logical mind, and is remarkably 
well read and well informed in the law and on general subjects also. He 
became a member of the Parkersburg Bar in 1901, and has been in con- 
tinuous practice ever since, and has tried a large number of important 
cases in quite a number of the counties of West Virginia. For several 
years past his principal office has been at Charleston, the capital of the 
State, where he conducts a large business. His practice is general and 
extends into all the State and Federal Courts and the Cireuit Court of 
Appeals of the Fourth U. S. Judicial Cireuit. He has also appeared as 
counsel in several cases in the Supreme Court of the United States. He 
is a hard working attorney and is almost constantly engaged in important 
causes. 

In politics Mr. Houston is a Socialist, and has been connected with that 
political organization for years, and is quite active in the management of 
its affairs. However, as to the question of a lawyer’s politics we have 
nothing to say. This volume deals with lawyers not politicians. Mr. 
Houston for years has been, and is, chief attorney and counselor of prac- 
tically all of the Labor Organizations of West Virginia, which includes 
the United Mine Workers of America, the most important as well as the 
largest distinctive labor organization of the State. It is, therefore, proper 


232 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


for us to say that the major part of Mr. Houston’s extensive and varied 
practice comes through these various organizations. 

As a lawyer Mr. Houston is not only strong and well balanced, but he 
is genial and companionable, and when interested in a case he considers 
no labor too great to devote to it. Hence he is a dangerous competitor in 
a court trial. His force of will, self-reliance and courage are more than 
common. In appearance he is commanding, being tall, prematurely white- 
headed, and extremely pleasant and sociable. What he believes he feels, 
and what he feels he speaks and acts promptly and vigorously, and with 
conscientious candor. 

He married Miss Sophie Graff in May, 1899, at Parkersburg, West Vir- 
ginia, and has two daughters. He is a member of the Benevolent and 
Protective Order of Elks. 

He has never held a political office of any kind or character. All of his 
time is devoted exclusively to his profession. Much of his time, however, 
is devoted to the trial in the courts of the State and country of cases 
growing out of politics. 


Hon. John Thomas McGraw, LL.B. 


Among the middle-aged, brilliant and successful members of the legal 
profession in central West Virginia is the subject of this sketch. He was 
born in the city of Grafton, Taylor County, Virginia, January 12, 1856. 
He was educated at St. Vincent’s Academy at Wheeling in the prescribed 
classical course. Later he graduated from the law department of Yale 
University with the degree of Bachelor of Laws in the class of 1876. In 
the autumn of that year he was admitted as a member of the Grafton Bar 
and has since successfully practiced his profession in that city to the 
present time. Shortly after he opened his law office he was made one of 
the principal attorneys for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, and 
as such legal adviser and attorney he is still employed. In 1880 he was 
elected Prosecuting Attorney of Tayior County and served efficiently and 
popularly for the term of four years. 

In 1882 he was appointed an Aide-de-Camp, with the rank of Colonel, on 
the staff of Hon. J. B. Jackson, Governor of West Virginia. In the spring 
of 1886, after his term of Prosecuting Attorney had expired, he was 
appointed by President Cleveland Collector of Internal Revenue for the 
State of West Virginia, which office he held for four years, and proved to 
be efficient and successful. In the meantime his general practice as an 
attorney had grown to larger proportions. While he was Internal Revenue 
Collector he was appointed Disbursing Agent for the new Government 
buildings at Wheeling, Charleston and Clarksburg, which was an additional 
responsibility, entirely independent of his duties of Revenue Collector. 
All of his public duties were discharged efficiently and to the entire satis- 
faction of all concerned therewith. All the while he never neglected to 
give attention to his large and rapidly increasing law business. 


Bench and Bar of West Virgin ia 233 


Colonel McGraw, from early manhood, has been an ardent Democrat. He 
was for years not only an active member of local Democratic committees, 
but for a score or more of years he has been the West Virginia member of 
the Democratic National Committee. He was, therefore, a powerful factor 
in local and national politics, as well as in the practice of the law. He has 
been a candidate for Congress, and because of the fact that he is one of 
the highest grade platform speakers in any political party in this or any 
other State, he is the idol of the Democratic party in West Virginia, and 
is admired by the people generally. 

Colonel McGraw is not only an active laywer and politician, but he is 
one of the foremost public spirited citizens of the entire State. He is a 
developer and a pusher in bringing to public notice the great natural 
advantages and resources of his native State. No history of West Virginia 
can be truthfully written without giving Colonel McGraw prominent men- 
tion in almost every chapter. He is a brilliant lawyer, a prominent poli- 
tician and a ledding public spirited citizen. 

In religion he is a Roman Catholic, and has never married. 


Levin Smith 


Among the strong, reputable, progressive, conscientious members of the 
Wood County, West Virginia, Bar is the subject of this sketch. His parents 
were William Haimes and Sarah Rector Smith, well known and highly 
respected families of that historic county. Levin was born in the same 
county December 22, 1861, shortly after the storm-clouds of the Civil War 
had gathered above our hills and vales. He received his education in the 
country schools and the Parkersburg High School, which has always been 
noted for its high standard in its requirements. Having decided to become 
a member of the legal profession, he matriculated as a student in the law 
department of Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and remained 
until he completed the required three years’ course of study. After his 
return to Parkersburg he was, in 1884, admitted a member of the historic 
Wood County Bar, where he has successfully practiced his profession. He 
possesses strong natural qualifications which, coupled with almost boundless 
energy and integrity of the loftiest sort, have made for him an enviable 
record as a lawyer and has won to him a large and profitable clientele. 

Mr. Smith is a lawyer of sound judgment, of a clear perception of right 
and wrong and of a deep sense of justice. His conclusions are never 
arbitrary nor sententious; naturally he falls on the moral side of all con- 
troversies. He practices law under all the rules of fairness and at all times 
adheres to the Golden Rule. His constant purpose is to carry apove him the 
white flower of a blameless life. His personal character is as spotless as 
a maiden’s and as unsullied as a ray of light. He is a profound student, 
a thorough lawyer, an untiring worker. He gives out advice carefully and 


234 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


conscientiously. He brings law suits not for revenue only, but that justice 
may prevail,— a rule all lawyers should follow. 

Mr. Smith is a Democrat, but he never was an office-seeker, and never 
held but one public office, and that was Solicitor for the city of Parkers- 
burg from 1891 to 1893. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Chureh, 
South, and is an active, useful worker, and has filled all the lay offices of 
his church, including the high honor of being chosen a Lay Delegate to its 
General Conference. He has also been active in all kinds of benevolent 
and eleemosynary kinds of work, and has spent practically all of his life 
in being helpful to, and considerate of, his fellow men, without parading it 
among the people. He is also active in the business affairs of his locality. 
He is Vice-President and a Director of the Central Bank and Trust Company 
of Parkersburg, and is also connected with a number of other business 
institutions in the community. He is a member of the County, State and 
American Bar Associations, and is also a member of the Independent Order 
of Odd Fellows and Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. 

He married Miss Nellie Marshall Williams June 21, 1887. They have four 
children. Their home is in the beautiful residence city of Parkersburg. 


Edward Granderson Smith, A.B., LL.B. 


E. G. Smith, son of Thomas Marion and Amy Minerva Smith, was born 
in Harrison County, West Virginia, April 8, 1868; was educated in the 
elementary branches in the local schools of his native county. Later, he 
graduated from the West Virginia University in the class of 1889. Sub- 
sequently he took a course in law at Washington and Lee University, 
Lexington, Virginia, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1892. He 
returned to Clarksburg, the seat of justice of his native county, and was 
admitted to practice that year. He is the senior member of the firm of 
Smith and Jackson, a well-established and successful law firm of that 
flourishing city. Although he is yet comparatively a young man, his status 
as a lawyer is firmly fixed. as he ranks among the foremost lawyers of that 
historic Bar. He is, in his political affiliations, a Democrat, but never took 
an active part in politics. The only office he ever aspired to was to be a 
candidate for membership on the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Vir- 
ginia in 1912, when he went down to defeat along with all the candidates 
of his party. He, however, received a larger vote than any other candidate 
on his party ticket, which showed that he was not short of popular support. 

His diligence, energy and fidelity to the interests of his clients soon won 
deserved success and: remunerative pecuniary rewards. Being thoroughly 
educated in the fundamental principles of the law, he prepares his cases 
with care, and in all court trials he is self-poised, forceful and effective. 
His prominent characteristics are a strong will, sound judgment, a keen 


knowledge of human nature, rigid devotion to what he believes to be right 


SMITH 


KE. G. 


HON. 


236 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


and an integrity of character that cannot be attacked nor shaken. He is 
always careful and thoughtful in giving his opinions on questions of law 
before advising the bringing of a law suit. His custom, therefore, was 
not to practice his profession merely ‘‘for revenue only,’’ but rather that 
justice should prevail in every court trial in which he engages. Distin- 
guished in appearance, tall of stature, dignified, graceful, affable in manner, 
he is withal modest and unassuming, with ready sympathies and a cultured 
taste, and at all times shows marked legal attainments. Better than all, 
he is a man of upright and blameles personal character. In all relations, 
in his family, at the Bar, in his friendships and in the community where 
he resides, he is loyal, true and considerate. No one questions his ability 
to have made an able and satisfactory Appellate Court Judge, had he been 
chosen to fill that high position by the voters of the State. 

He was elected in 1913 President of the West Virginia University Alumni 
Association, and was thrice consecutively re-elected to that position. He 
is a member of the Masonic Fraternity, is an Elk and a Woodman of the 
World, and a member of the Greek Letter Fraternity of Phi Delta Theta. 
He is the author of several able magazine articles, notably ‘‘Power Dams in 
Public Rivers,’’ ‘‘Our Judiciary,’’ ‘‘Needs of the West Virginia Univer- 
sity,’’ ‘‘The Plutocrat,’’ ete. He was an attorney in the hydro-electric 
litigation in the courts of this State, in which he made an enviable record. 

Mr. Smith is married, has two children, and is happy and contented in 
his home life. Among his friends he is always social, joyous and happy. 
No taint of any kind ever rested upon his private life, which is the 
crowning glory of any man’s career. 


Walling Wallenson Van Winkle 


Our subject, one of the nestors of the Wood County Bar, son of Adolph 
and Petina Van Winkle, of Lodi, New Jersey, was born in that town 
November 17, 1845. He received his primary education in the public schools 
of Jersey City, New Jersey, and later he attended the University of New 
York, where he was trained in the higher branches and also in law. Having 
relatives at Parkersburg, West Virginia, he migrated thither, and was 
admitted to the Wood County Bar, December 11, 1866. He soon opened a 
law office in that city, where he has continued to reside until the present, 
and has practiced in all the courts of WestVirginia, both State and Federal. 
He has also assisted in the trial of important cases in the Federal Courts 
of Maryland, Virginia and Illinois. At a Bar which counted among its 
members many men of distinction and more than ordinary ability, he early 
achieved success and became known as a skillful trier and manager of 
causes, a convincing advocate and a wise and conscientious counselor. 

In him is united a keen sense of right and love of justice, a thorough 
knowledge of legal principles and a power of discrimination which make 
them easy of application. He has an acute, broad and penetrating mind, 


W. W. VAN WINKLE 


238 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


which cause him to be sought after as an attorney. Calm, dignified in 
manner, modest, but courageous in the expression of opinion, clean and pure 
of life, the soul of honor and integrity, the character of the man and his 
reputation for candor, uprightness and fairness, give to him, with court 
and jury, a power and influence which justly supplemented that produced 
by his learning and clean-cut presentation of the law and the facts. He is 
thorough in the preparation of his cases, has an accurate knowledge of all 
the details of pleading and practice and a coolness and imperturbability 
never shaken under circumstances the most adverse. He has not the gift 
of oratory, in the popular sense; he seeks to convince, not inflame or befog, 
but to cause others to see the points he is making as clearly as he, himself, 
sees them. Shortly after locating in Parkersburg he formed a partnership 
with B. Mason Ambler, an eminent lawyer of that city, which still exists 
and has a State-wide reputation, covering nearly a half century of time. 

Mr. Van Winkle married Miss Hannah Cook, of Parkersburg, October 26, 
1868. They have one child—a daughter. He is a Republican in politics, 
but never sought or held a public office. He is a lawyer per se. He is 
very prominent in all the branches of Freemasonry in the State and has 
ably filled many high offices in that great Fraternity. He is highly 
esteemed as a citizen by the people in the city where he has spent his 
professional life. 


Millard F. Snider, LL.B. 


Among the high standing lawyers of the justly recognized high standard 
Clarksburg Bar, the subject of this sketch must be recognized. He is the 
son of Jehu and Virginia (Apsy) Snider and was born in Doddridge County, 
Virginia, September 24, 1860; was reared on a farm and inured to hard 
labor until he grew to manhood. It was by hard work, early and late, that 
young Snider had instilled into him the principle that best results are 
derived from diligent application and honest toil. This experience gave him 
a strong, and indeed, robust, physique, which has served him well all 
through life. He started out when a mere boy determined, somehow, to 
secure a thorough education, and although he never graduated from a college 
except in law, yet by the aid of the public schools and constant application 
to books, when he became twenty years of age, he was prepared to teach 
school, which he did for six years. While engaged in teaching every spare 
hour was given to systematic reading and study and the development of 
his mind, and it may be stated, therefore, that his education is equal to a 
regular college training, and in some respects superior. He went through 
the Junior year of the State Normal School at Fairmont, but did not com- 
plete the full course. He then read law under the direction of John Bassel, 
an able lawyer at Clarksburg, for a short time; he later matriculated as a 
student at the West Virginia University at Morgantown, where he took a 
complete law course, adding to it some important studies of the academic 
department, and graduating LL.B. in the class of 1887. 


MILLARD F. SNIDER 


240 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


After leaving college he located at West Union, the county seat of 
Doddridge County, opened a law office, and contrary to most young lawyers, 
he had a profitable clientele from the start. Although doing well in West 
Union, he saw the necessity of getting into a wider field of labor, presenting 
greater opportunities, so he decided to locate at Clarksburg, Harrison 
County, the commercial center of that prosperous section of the State, and 
he accordingly moved his residence and office to that city in the spring of 
1898, where he still resides and is known and recognized as among the 
leading lawyers of that able Bar. His practice is general and extends into 
all the State and Federal Courts of West Virginia, the United States Appel- 
late Court of the Fourth Judicial Circuit and the Supreme Court of the 
United States. He is unusually successful in the trial of his causes, 
especially in the Appellate Courts, as the records may be relied on to show 
that he, perhaps, never lost a single cause that he actually deserved to win. 
His rank, therefore, as a trial lawyer is very good. He is genial, com- 
panionable and eminently honorable in every respect. His business expands 
as the years go by. He is thoroughly grounded in the principles of the law, 
and in his office work and counsel he is careful and painstaking, in order 
that he may make fewer mistakes that might cause his clients trouble or 
loss by unconsidered advice. As an advocate he is resourceful, logical and 
forceful. Whilst he is a pronounced Democrat, he has never been a candi- 
date for any office of a political character; twice, however, he was a 
eandidate for Prosecuting Attorney of the two counties in which he has 
resided, which offices were strictly in the line of his profession, but was 
defeated along with all the other candidates upon the ticket, his party being 
in the minority in both of those counties. One of his leading desires has 
ever been to become an eminent lawyer, which he could never expect if 
he became a politician per se. Hence he stuck closely to his law office and 
used his time and energies with that end in view. The results show that 
in this he made no mistake. He is also a man of affairs, and devotes his 
spare time to the development of the community in which he lives. He is 
a factor and also a stockholder in several leading business enterprises in 
his adopted county of Harrison, and takes a vigorous hand in the develop- 
ment of the resources of that section of the State. 

October 4, 1892, he was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Stuart, 
of Doddridge County, daughter of the late Judge C. J. Stuart, who, in his 
day was one of the most eminent lawyers and jurists of that part of West 
Virginia. They have one child — Virginia Ann —a classical graduate of 
Goucher Female College, Baltimore, Maryland, one of the highest grade 
female colleges of the entire country. Their home life is of the ideal sort 
on ‘‘Quality Hill’’ in the city of Clarksburg, where they are surrounded 
by hosts of admiring friends. 

Mr. Snider is an active and useful member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, and is also a member of the West Virginia Bar Association and_ 


rarely misses a session. He is simple in his habits, admires nlain and 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 241 


unpretentious people and has a specially high reagrd for those that are 
willing to do honest work in the world. He is one of the few men who 
never used intoxicating liquors or tobacco in any form at any period of his 
life. May we here add that he in this respect stands as a sentinel, almost 
solitary and alone, among the legal fraternity in this, or any other, country? 
May we further add that these virtues were harder to achieve than to be 
able to stand upon the top rungs of the legal ladder in any city or State? 


William Erskine, B.S., LL.B. 


Our subject has long been classed among the leading lawyers of the Ohio 
County, West Virginia, Bar. He is a native of Washington County, Penn- 
sylvania, is a son of Robert C. and Naney B. Erskine, and was born 
March 18, 1845. He was graduated from Westminister College, New Wil- 
mington, Pennsylvania, in 1868, with the degree of Bachelor of Science; and 
in 1870 he graduated in law from Albany Law School, Albany, New York, 
with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. The year of his graduation he was 
admitted to the Bar at Albany, but having decided to locate permanently 
for the practice of his profession in the city of Wheeling, West Virginia, 
he was admitted to the Bar of that city in June, 1870, and has there 
practiced, without intermission, until the present time. He is Lincolnian 
in appearance, is more than six feet tall, is erect, rather angular in build 
and is physically powerful, and possesses unusual powers of endurance and 
tenacity. He is high-minded, moral, c!ear-headed and has an abundance 
of practical, common sense. He is also a quiet, unassuming man and 
an industrious, well-grounded and efficient lawyer. His record as an 
attorney is without a blemish, and is worthy of emulation by any lawyer 
anywhere, in this or any other State. He is as tall in character as he is in 
inches and stands four-square before all men, and always has done so, since 
his location in Wheeling, nearly a half century ago. 

Mr. Erskine has always been a Republican, but never sought a political 
office. The only office he ever held was City Solicitor of Wheeling, which 
he ably filled for two terms. Whilst thus serving he discovered an embezzle- 
ment by the City Collector, which resulted in a lengthy investigation, a 
law-suit and the recovery of $14,000. He practices in the West Virginia 
Courts and the United States Courts in West Virginia. He was a partner 
of Hon. William P. Hubbard, who is mentioned in another part of this 
volume, for two years, from 1875 to 1877, inclusive, and with the late 
Benjamin S. Allison for thirty-five years, under the firm name of Erskine 
and Allison. His present law firm is Erskine, Palmer and Curl. The junior 
member of the firm is, at this time, a Lieutenant in the United States 
Signal Service in France in the World War against the Germans and Huns. 

Mr. Erskine was twice married. First, to Celeste S. Chase, in February, 
1872, by whom he had four children, and second, to Miss Elizabeth Clohan, 
in 1902, both of whom were ladies of estimable character and highly 


242 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


respected by the citizens of Wheeling. In religious convictions he is a 
Presbyterian, and his influence is always on the side of good morals and 
honest government. He has never shown any tendency to sympathize with 
any movement that lowers instead of elevates the people. He is always 
affable and courteous in his manner, is a fair speaker, a close debater and 
stands high among his brothers of the profession. 


Edward Wallace Knight, A.M. 


Our subject, the son of Edward B. and Hannah Elizabeth Knight, was 
born at Charleston, West Virginia, April 30, 1866; received his primary 
education in the public schools of Charleston; later entered Dartmouth 
College and graduated in the class of 1887 with the degree of Bachelor of 
Arts. He returned to Charleston and began to study law under the tutelage 
of his father, who was one of the leading attorneys of Kanawha County. 
After thoroughly familiarizing himself with legal principles laid down in 
the textbooks he passed a creditable examination and was admitted as a 
member of the Kanawha Bar in May, 1889, where he has practiced, without 
intermission, in all the State and United States Courts to the present time. 
In January, 1892, he became a member of the well-known and ablé law 
firm of Brown and Jackson, constituting the firm then as now of Brown, 
Jackson and Knight. The present members of the firm, in addition to those 
mentioned, are V. L. Black, John Wehrle, Angus W. McDonald, George S. 
Couch, Jr., and Osear P. Fitzgerald, Jr. Whilst Mr. Knight is well posted 
in all branches of the law, he has specialized in corporation practice, in 
which he has become unusually familiar and successful. He has been gen- 
eral counsel of the Deepwater, Tidewater and Virginia Railways since 1892. 
He has but little taste for politics and has sought no political office. The 
only public position he ever held was a member of the Common Council of 
the city of Charleston from 1891 to ’94, inclusive, but has held no other 
public office. His affiliations have always been with the Democratic party, 
but in no sense can he be classed as a pronounced partisan. He is a public 
spirited, progressive citizen and is a leader in the development and growth 
of the community in which he resides. His career, both as lawyer and 
citizen, has been able and exemplary. No stain of dishonor has ever been 
attached to his name. In physique and appearance he is almost the exact 
image of his distinguished father. Although he is stern in the maintenance 
of that which he believes to be right, and in the dictates of duty, his 
moderation is not less marked than his integrity. Whilst he is a man of 
earnest and intense convictions, his actions and expressions are always 
tempered with mildness and discretion. Consequently he is respected and 
esteemed by the members of the profession and also by the laymen with 
whom he transacts business. In the preparation of his cases he is pro- 
found, laborious, methodical and exact and is always well armed with 
precedent and authorities. In the trial of his cases he is, therefore, rarely 


EDWARD W. KNIGHT 


244 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


caught on any point unawares. This, doubtless, is largely the secret of his 
success. 

January 25, 1893, Mr. Knight was united in marriage with Miss Catherine, 
daughter of Col. J. E. Dana, of Charleston. They have three children — 
one son and two daughters. Mr. Knight is a member of the Masonic 
Fraternity, and in his religious convictions is a Presbyterian. He is a 
forward-thinking man, broad and liberal in his views and thoroughly demo- 
eratic in spirit. Although of a positive nature, he disagrees with his 
opponents without rancor. His home life is of the pleasantest character, 
and he enjoys associations with his friends. He is an upright citizen, keenly 
interested in the social welfare of the people. 


Col. George Selden Wallace, LL.B. 


George S. Wallace, one of the best known attorneys of the Huntington, 
West Virginia, Bar, son of Charles Irving and Maria L. (Schlater) Wallace, 
was born at Greenwood, Virginia, September 6, 1871, and was educated in 
the public and private schools of his native section and later graduated 
from the Law Department of the West Virginia University, with a LL.B. 
diploma, in 1897. In June of that year he was admitted to practice in the 
local courts of Cabell County, and since that time he has engaged in con- 
tinuous practice in all the State courts and Federal courts as well. He has, 
by close application to his work, managed to build up a luerative legal 
business, and is acknowledged to be among the leading lawyers in the 
southern section of West Virginia. He is extremely courteous, is indus- 
trious and energetic and has the confidence of all the people with whom he 
associates. He is a safe and sane counselor and is genuinely upright and 
honorable in all his dealings as a lawyer and a citizen. Such an one will 
always have hosts of friends and followers in all of his private and publie 
undertakings. 

He has always been in politics a consistent Democrat, and the only 
political office he ever aspired to was that of Prosecuting Attorney of 
Cabell County, to which position he was elected by the people in 1904, which 
office he filled with great acceptability for the full term of four years. 

Mr. Wallace was commissioned a Lieutenant in a company of the Second 
West Virginia regiment of United States volunteer soldiers, in 1898, in the 
Spanish-American War, and remained in that service until the close of 
hostilities, proving himself to be a high grade soldier and patriot. At the 
close of the short and decisive war with Spain he became a valuable officer 
in the National Guard of West Virginia, attaining to the rank of Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel, and was Acting Judge Advocate General of the military 
forces of the State during the pendency of the long strike of the coal 
miners in the southern portion of West Virginia, during the administration 
of Governor Glasscock. 


COLONEL GEORGE 8S. WALLACE 


246 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Since the declaration of war between the United States and the Imperial 
Government of Germany, Colonel Wallace had charge of the enlistment of 
troops in West Virginia for the United States Army, under the recent 
Military Act of Congress, and has recently been assigned to active duty in 
the field in the office of Judge Advocate General of the United States Army, 
with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel of Volunteers, a position he is admirably 
qualified to fill and is filling to the entire satisfaction of the War Depart- 
ment in the present war with the German Empire. 

Colonel Wallace was united in marriage with Miss Frances B. Gibson, 
of Huntington. They have been blessed with five children as the result of 
this happy union. 


Hon. Eskridge H. Morton 


Mr. Morton is one of the prominent members of the profession in the 
central portion of West Virginia and has been one of the successful prac- 
titioners of the Webster County Bar for a score or more years. He was 
born in Webster County June 18, 1866, and was educated in the common 
schools and at the West Virginia University, where he received his legal 
training and fitted himself for the practice of the law. His practice has 
extended into all the surrounding counties. He was licensed to practice 
shortly after graduating from the University, and has steadily grown into 
leadership among the strong attorneys of his section. He is a Democrat 
and has a strong liking for the political arena, in which he occupies a front 
rank in the entire State. He is, therefore, a success in both the law and 
in politics. He possesses many natural gifts, which have greatly aided him 
in both callings. He has also been square and upright in his dealings with 
his clients and the people generally, and has built up a reputation for 
probity and uprightness which have served him well in all of his 
undertakings. 

His first political office was County Superintendent of Public Schools of 
his native county, which he filled satisfactorily from 1889 to 1891 inclusive. 
He was next Prosecuting Attorney of Webster County, from 1893 to 1897, 
in which he proved his ability and efficiency as a prosecutor. He was 
Assistant Prosecuting Attorney of the adjoining county of Nicholas for 
four years, from 1887 to 1901; was elected Sergeant-at-Arms of the lower 
branch of the West Virginia Legislature in 1903-4; was the candidate of 
his party for Attorney-General of the State in 1908 and was defeated with 
the other candidates of his party that year; was a Delegate to the National 
Democratic Convention in 1912; was elected a State Senator in 1916, where 
he is now serving with both tact and ability. He is a superior public 
speaker and debater, and is one of the leaders of his party on the floor of 
the Senate and takes a leading part in all of the discussions that come 
before that law-making body. 

He is married and is rearing an interesting family. He resides at Webster 
Springs, the seat of justice of his native county, one of the best known 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 247 


summer resorts of West Virginia. He claims that it is one of the healthiest 
mineral springs in the United States, if not, indeed, in the entire world, 
and we surmise that his claims are well founded. 

He is_also deeply interested in the development and civie growth of his 
native county and the State at large. He is a tall, sun-crowned man and is 
full of energy and enterprise, and has won the confidence and respect of 
the people generally. 


Hon. William Alexander MacCorkle, LL.B., LL.D. 


The subject of this brief sketch descended from a sturdy Scotch stock 
who settled in Virginia about the year 1730, being the son of William and 
Mary Morrison MacCorkle, of Rockbridge County, Virginia. He was born 
in that county, May 7, 1857, and was educated in the schoois of that 
locality, and later matriculated as a student at Washington and Lee Uni- 
versity, from which well-known institution he graduated as a Bachelor of 
Laws in the class of 1879. Shortly thereafter he came to West Virginia 
and located at Charleston, and entered upon the practice of his profession 
with that degree of vigor and determination peculiar to him since arriving 
at manhood, which has extended through his entire career and accounts for 
the success that has attended his efforts. When he was a very young man 
his parents moved to Missouri, where they remained but a few years, and 
returned to their former home in Virginia, so that practically the entire 
life of our subject has been spent in the two Virginias. 

When he first came to Kanawha he had pretty rough sledding, but it was 
not long until business began to come his way, and he made himself known 
to the people of that section as a young attorney of ability and unusual 
force of character; consequently his practice rapidly broadened most 
satisfactorily. 

Having a natural taste for politics, he did not hesitate to take a hand in 
public affairs. His first office was that of City Solicitor of Charleston, and 
he made a good one. His next public office was that of Governor, to which 
he was elected as a Democrat, and in that exalted position he introduced 
progressive ideas into State affairs which had not hitherto apparently been 
even thought of, and being a natural developer the State began to wake 
up and take on new life as it never had done before. His record as 
Governor can be pointed to with pride as showing wisdom, honesty and pub- 
lic efficiency. His leading purpose was to develop the great natural resources 
oi the State, and no one can say that he did not labor early and late to 
accomplish this laudable and meritorious undertaking. In short, he made 
an excellent and able Chief Executive. 

Governor MacCorkle was a member of the State Senate of West Virginia 
after his retirement as Governor, and his ability and aggressive earnestness 
made him one of the most influential members of that distinguished body 
of law makers. He is a member of the prominent and able law firm of 


248 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Chilton, MacCorkle and Chilton, which carries a vast and varied law 
business at the capital of the State and is a well-known law firm over the 
entire Commonwealth, and has a reputation beyond the limits of the State 
for ability, efficiency and integrity. 

Governor MacCorkle, however, is not known as a lawyer only; he carries 
on vast business enterprises also. He is president of a bank and is an active 
member and stockholder of several large developing enterprises in the 
Kanawha Valley. It is, therefore, only fair to class him among the 
State’s foremost developers. 

He is a man of unusual physical strength, as well as mental faculties. He 
is a forceful speaker, and possesses literary attainments of a high order, 
being the author of several books of decided merit. 

He married Miss Belle, daughter of William F. Goshorn, of Charleston, 
and has one son, William G. MacCorkle, who is a promising member of his 
father’s law firm, and one daughter, Miss Isabelle, who resides with her 
father and mother at their palatial residence, on the south side of the 
Kanawha River, which overlooks, with a splendid view, the thriving city 
of Charleston. 

Governor MacCorkle is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and is a 
Freemason of high rank. In recongition of his ability and scholarship, his 
alma mater conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor or Laws, a 
few years ago, an honor properly and worthily bestowed. He was the 
successful State manager of the five National Liberty Loans. 


Hon. Malcolm Jackson, LL.B. 


Our subject is a member of the able and well-known law firm of Brown, 
Jackson and Knight, of the city of Charleston, which was organized more 
than thirty years ago and has more than a State-wide reputation in all of 
the varied branches of the profession. He is the son of Richard and Anna 
M. Jackson, of Richmond, Indiana, where he was born March 21, 1860. He 
attended the public schools of that city; later entered Earlham College, 
Indiana, and still later was an alumnus of the Naval Academy, Annapolis, 
Maryland. Having decided to enter the legal profession, he matriculated 
in the Law Department of the University of Virginia, and graduated there- 
from in the class of 1881 with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. The follow- 
ing year he located in Charleston, this State, becoming a member of the 
law firm of Brown, Jackson and Knight, as stated above, where he has 
since practiced. In addition to the three principal partners already named, 
the following junior associates are connected with the firm: V. L. Black, 
John Wehrle, A. W. McDonald, George S. Couch, Jr., and O. P. Fitzgerald. 
Their offices occupy one entire floor of the large Kanawha Valley Bank 
building. Their practice includes all the branches of the law and extends 
into all the courts of the State and Federal Governments, from Justices of 
the Peace to the Supreme Court of the United States. 


HON. MALCOLN JACKSON 


250 Bench and Bar of West Virgina 


Mr. Jackson is a man of large stature, is of commanding personality, is 
high-minded, moral, clear-headed and possesses a large supply of practical 
common sense. He has dignified the profession by exhibiting in the practice 
the highest type of integrity, fidelity, learning and wisdom. He thoroughly 
masters his cases and is particularly able in courthouse trials, rarely allow- 
ing himself to be surprised over any question that may arise or be thrust 
upon him. He throws his strong personality into the conduct of his causes, 
fears no antagonist and is never unfaithful to a client. As an advocate 
he is gifted with strong logical powers and a faculty of expression remark- 
ably lucid and convincing. His proper rank is among the high grade lawyers 
of the State. He is proud of his profession and ambitious to excel in it. 
He is a warm-hearted man, a faithful friend and a generous foe. He is 
never impulsive, carries himself deliberately, and when he reaches a con- 
clusion he adheres to it tenaciously. Firmness of purpose and unswerving 
integrity are his chief characteristics, and at all times he carries with him 
the confidence and respect of his fellows. 

Mr. Jackson is a Republican, but never held but one political office — 
member of the State Legislature in 1901-2 from Kanawha County, wherein 
he was unusually efficient. He married Miss Louise Fontaine Broun, of 
Charleston, in 1891, by whom he had two children, a son and a daughter; 
his wife departed this life during the summer of 1917. He is a member of 
all the branches of the Masonic Fraternity and is a communicant of the 
Protestant Episcopal Church. During Governor Atkinson’s administration 
he was the law officer of the State National Guard, with the rank of 
Brigadier-General on the Governor’s personal staff. 


Albert Worth Reynolds 


Mr. Reynolds was born in Virginia, June 25, 1856, and came to West 
Virginia with his parents in childhood and has been a resident of the State” 
ever since. He isa son of Silas T. Reynolds and Araminta Walker Reynolds, 
now deceased. He attended public and private schools and finished his 
academic education at the West Virginia Concord State Normal School, and 
thereafter studied law in a law office and was admitted to the practice of 
law after passing the Bar examination in the year 1879. Though never 
having had a college or university degree conferred upon him, Mr. Reynolds 
is a man of broad information and splendid educational attainments. He 
has never held a county, State or Federal office and has never been an 
aspirant for office, although his name has been favorably mentioned by the 
press in connection with the judiciary, and especially for appointment as 
United States Judge for the Fourth Cireuit; but he declined to allow his 
name to be presented for that position, preferring to continue in the practice 
of law. He has been recognized for many years as one of the best lawyers 
in the State and has had a law practice perhaps second to none in either 


A. W. REYNOLDS 


252 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


of the Virginias. He has appeared as counsel in many eases of local 
importance, a number of them involving property of the value of millions 
of dollars; and the decisions of the courts in his eases have established 
precedents that have settled many important questions, especially of the 
land laws of the State, in which he has specialized. 

Mr. Reynolds married Miss Rhoda Haynes, a daughter of Col. William 
D. Haynes, a prominent lawyer of East Tennessee, by whom he has five 
sons and one daughter. Albert Worth Reynolds, Jr., the fourth son, is a 
graduate of Georgetown University and a lawyer. 

Mr. Reynolds’ second wife was Miss Edmonia Slaven, of Virginia, by 
whom he has no children. 

One of Mr. Reynolds’ most admirable traits of character is his courteous 
bearing and treatment of the courts and opposing members of the Bar, 
and especially his courtesies toward the younger members of the Bar. 

At Princeton, where he resides, he has been a potent factor in the develop- 
ment of the industries and business interests of the southern part of the 
State, and although he has devoted his time mostly to the practice of law, 
he has accumulated a considerable estate and is interested in coal mining, 
banking, grazing cattle and other business enterprises. 


Hon. Edgar Parks Rucker, LL.B. 


Mr. Rucker was born at Covington, Virginia, December 23, 1861, and 
died April 20, 1908, in Washington, D. C., where he had gone for medical 
treatment from his home in Welch, McDowell County, West Virginia. He 
was the youngest son of Dr. William P. and Margaret Rucker. At an early 
age he moved with his parents to Lewisburg, Greenbrier County, West Vir- 
ginia, where he spent his youth and attended school at the Lewisburg 
Academy. In 1887 he received the degree of LL.B. from the West Virginia 
University and at once began the practice of law in partnership with his 
father at Lewisburg. A year later he moved to Princeton, Mercer County, 
where he practiced law for three years. When the county seat of McDowell 
County was established at Welch in 1892, Mr. Rucker located there, where 
he practiced law until the time of his death. He had as law partners at 
one time or another Benjamin F. Keller, James L. Hamil, Luther C. Ander- 
son, William W. Hughes and Daniel J. F. Strother. 

In 1896 Mr. Rucker was elected Attorney-General of the State of West 
Virginia and served with distinction the full term of four years. In this 
office he served with ability and distinction. j 

A Republican in politics, he was ever active in public affairs and was 
frequently honored by his party and by his fellow citizens. 

He was an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and 
was a Delegate to the General Conference of 1902. 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 253 


General Rucker was an unusually brilliant and successful lawyer. Always 
intensely active, wholly devoted to the interests of his clients, ever resource- 
ful, particularly in an emergency, a fine orator, a born leader of men, he 
was a good lawyer and a splendid gentleman. 

‘He married Miss Maude Applegate, of Missouri, and his widow and their 
daughter, Margaret, now live in Cincinnati, Ohio. 


Hon. William Taylor George 


The subject of this sketch, the son cf John R. and Gay (Taylor) George, 
was born in the town of Belington, Barbour County, West Virginia, October 
3, 1569. Although his opportunities for schooling were somewhat meager, 
he is far from being without education. For years he attended the public 
schools of his home section, where by close application to textbooks and 
a set purpose to procure a safe and solid foundation upon which to erect 
a fabric in the future, by a systematic course of reading and study that in 
some respects would answer as a substitute for the average college course. 
In this manner, by adhering to the plan he adopted in early life of reading 
and study reduced to system, and allowing none of his time to be wasted, 
he became master of a clear, terse and vigorous style, both in writing and 
in speaking, for which he became noted in his mature years. 

He read law, not in a law college; he read the textbooks at home by his 
own fireside, where he read other books, in order to understand and digest 
and absorb their contents and their meaning. When he finished Blackstone, 
or Kent, or Stephen on Pleading, or Parsons on Contracts, or any other 
textbook for that matter, he knew what the authors were talking about, 
and consequently was able to pass a creditable examination for admission 
to the Bar. In the retreat of the rural sections, where the first lessons 
learned alike by members of both sexes is that of independence and self- 
reliance and where one straightway resists any one’s interference with 
one’s private affairs and belongings, there we find the basis of substantia: 
and enduring character. He was admitted as a member of the Barbour 
County Bar in 1896, where he has since practiced with pronounced success. 
His practice is general and extends to all the courts of West Virginia, both 
State and Federal. He is an upright man, is careful and thoughtful 
giving his opinions to clients on questions of law and in his many vears 
of successful practice he has demeaned himself as upright and trustworthy. 
He is also a careful pleader and a hard worker. He worked his way - 
success, and better than all, he made his own way through life. He is 
absolutely self-made, and he made a good job of it. 

He is a staunch Republican, but was never domineering nor ‘‘bossy.’’ 
He was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Barbour County in 1900 and served 
four years faithfully. In 1912 he was elected to the West Virginia Legis- 
lature and was chosen Speaker of the House of Delegates during the session 


254 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


of 1913. In this’ exaited position he was able, just and universally fair in 
all of his rulings and decisions. 

Mr. George married Miss Dara Howell, December 12, 1892. They have 
six children — five daughters, four of whom are living, and one son. He is 
a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Orders of Elks and 
Knights of Pythias. He has recently added to his law business that of 
coal mining as a side issue. His home is at Philippi, the seat of justice 
of Barbour County, where he has a large circle of friends and admirers. 
He is a public spirited citizen and is active in the development of the 
resources of his county and State, and is frequently referred to in connec- 
tion with higher honors at the hands of the voters of the State. He was 
a candidate in 1918 for a seat in the American Congress, but was defeated 
for the nomination in a primary election. 


Hon. Adam B. Littlepage 


Mr. Littlepage was born in Charleston, April 14, 1859. His father, Adam 
Littlepage, for whom he was named, was a successful business man of 
prominence in his day and lost his life in the Civil War of 1861-5. Young 
Adam, from early boyhood, determined to become a lawyer of distinction, 
and his honorable ambition never waned until he reached the goal of his 
early desires. He is entitled to great credit for his success in life, because 
he had to open up the way by his own study, perseverance and untiring 
efforts. Nothing seemed to daunt him as he toiled, early and late, to make 
his life-work a success. To secure an education was his greatest drawback, 
because the means of a college education, which he deemed essential, were 
not at his command; but what he lacked in opportunity he made up in 
application, and received from the public schools of his native county the 
best they could offer. He subsequently added thereto information gathered 
from wide courses of systematic reading and study, which, coupled with an 
observing mind, and that knowledge which comes from experience, he pieced 
out a substantial education. 

He took up the study of the law in Indiana, while a farm hand and 
superintendent, mastering textbooks, and after a few years of faithful toil 
was admitted to the Bar of that State. Shortly thereafter he returned to 
Charleston, opened an office and though clients came a little slow for 
a while, that faith in himself, which has always been one of his best assets, 
caused him ‘‘to stay on the job’’ until he had all the business he could 
attend to. He was not long in building up a reputation as one of the most 
successful and forceful lawyers of the Charleston Bar. jie is one of the 
best illustrations of what grit and self-reliance will do for any young man 
who seeks to get on in life that the writer has thus far known. 

Mr. Littlepage has always been a sterling Democrat, and has, in a 
number of campaigns, demonstrated his popularity before the people. In 
tact, he has never failed to receive many more votes than his party strength. 


HON. ADAM B. LITTLEPAGE 


256 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


He was four years a member of the State Senate, and is now serving his 
third term in Congress, although the district is largely Republican. The 
State being Republican, he was at one time defeated for the nomination for 
Governor. It is well understood among his party opponents that when 
Mr. Littlepage is a candidate against them they are almost sure of defeat, 
unless they have a big, round majority on their side of the political ledger. 
Mr. Littlepage, when his time allows it from his Congressional duties, to 
which he is always faithful, is still engaged in the practice of his profession 
along with his son Collett. The firm is conducting a successful and profitable 
law business in Charleston. He maintains a palatial residence at the 
western limit of the city and within sight of the spot where he was born. 
He always does his best in private and in public life. 


Hon. John Jacob Cornwell 


Governor Cornwell, the fifteenth Governor of West Virginia, son of 
Jacob H. and Mary E. (Taylor) Cornwell, was born July 11, 1867, on a 
farm near Pennsboro, Ritchie County, West Virginia. His father moved, 
with his family, to Hampshire County, in the South Branch Valley in 1870, 
where his son, the future Governor of the State, was reared to manhood on 
a Hampshire County farm. He attended the public schools of that locality. 
Later he entered Shepherd College at Shepherdstown, Jefferson County, and 
remained there until he had received sufficient education to equip him for 
a public school teacher, and at the age of sixteen he received a teacher’s 
certificate from the County Superintendent of Public Schools, which pro- 
fession he followed for seven years. During this period he was principal 
of the graded schools of Romney, the seat of justice of Hampshire County. 
In the fall of 1890, with his brother, W. B. Cornwell, he bought the 
Hampshire Review, published at Romney, and has been the editor of that 
publication — the single newspaper published in Hampshire County — for 
a period of over twenty-five years, retiring as the active editor when he was 
sworn in as Governor of West Virginia. In connection with his newspaper 
work he studied law in the offices of his brother and was admitted to 
practice in 1894. He had a legal mind, and was, therefore, not long in 
impressing himself upon the community as one who would reach high 
standing as a member of the legal profession. He possessed a strong 
intellect and was gifted as a speaker. His mind was naturally analytical, 
and he could then, as now, state a legal proposition with unusual clearness 
and force. Had he devoted all of his time and energies to the profession 
he would easily have reached a high rank as a lawyer. As it is, he is far 
above the average of our West Virginia attorneys. He is conservative, 
deliberate and unusually clear in the preparation and presentation of his 
eases. Like the great Lincoln, he does not practice law for ‘‘revenue 
only,’’ but rather that justice between man and man should be fairly 
administered by courts of law throughout the entire country. His purpose 


HON JOHN J. CORNWELL 


2158 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


has always been to be fair to his clients and with the courts as well. He 
is pleasant in demeanor and is always courteous and fair with opposing 
counsel. He is an able advocate and never fails to make a strong impression 
upon both court and jury. He is honorable and upright in all of his 
dealings and has the confidence of all the people who have the pleasure of 
his acquaintance. He is a developer as well as a lawyer, and has been 
largely instrumental in the development of his section of the State. It was 
through his efforts that the railroad was constructed from Romney to 
Moorefield, tapping a rich territory and permitting development. He has 
been active for many years in the development of his section as a com- 
mercial fruit-growing country. 

In 1896 Governor Cornwell made his entry into politics and was elected 
a delegate to the Democratic National Convention held at Chicago when 
William Jennings Bryan was nominated the first time for the Presi- 
dency. In 1898 he was elected to the State Senate from the Twelfth 
Senatorial District, which was composed of the counties of Hampshire, 
Hardy, Mineral, Grant, Pendleton and Tucker. In 1902 he was re-elected 
to the State Senate from the Fifteenth Senatorial District, the Legislature 
having re-districted the State, increasing the number of senatorial districts 
from thirteen to fifteen. While serving a second term as a member of the 
State Senate he was nominated by the Democratic party in State Convention 
at Parkersburg for Governor of West Virginia. In the campaign that fol- 
lowed he ran 25,000 votes ahead of his ticket, being defeated by 8,000 
majority by the late Governor W. M. O. Dawson, when Theodore Roosevelt 
carried the State by 33,000 majority. 

In 1912 Governor Cornwell was elected a Delegate to the Democratic 
National Convention at Baltimore and four years later was nominated in 
a general primary election to be the Democratic candidate for Governor of 
West Virginia. The vote in the 1916 election showed Governor Cornwell 
to have been the sole Democrat on the State ticket to be elected. 

He was married in 1891 to Miss Edna Brady and they have one surviving 
child, Mrs. Eugene E. Ailes, of Washington, D. C. 

Since his inauguration as Governor, March 4, 1917, Governor Cornwell 
called the State Legislature into extraordinary session May 14, 1917, and 
that body responded to his wishes in submitting to a vote of the people a 
constitutional amendment proposing a budget system, designed to place a 
check on ruthless expenditures from the State Treasury. The Legislature 
also enacted a number of war measures through the operation of which 
Governor Cornwell has been desirous of assisting the Federal Government 
in the prosecution of the war with Germany. He has been the ‘‘ war 
Governor ’’ in fact as well as in name, devoting his energies to the arousing 
of the people of the State to the causes which impelled America to enter 
the war against the Imperial Government of Germany. He has been a 
foremost figure in the Liberty Loans, Red Cross, Y. M. C. A. and other 
campaigns through which funds have been and are being raised to dili- 
gently and successfully prosecute the war. 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


bo 
or 
1 © 


Harvey F. Smith, B.A., LL.B. 


Our subject belongs in a class of successful, high grade lawyers of Cen- 
tral West Virginia, who have not only honored the Bar of that particular 
section, but of the entire State as well. He was born and reared on a 
farm on Big Buffalo Creek, Harrison County, West Virginia. He attended 

_the public schools of his native county, and being an earnest and apt 
student, when not quite sixteen years of age, he had made sufficient advance- 
ment to obtain a No. 1 certificate, so he taught for two years in the public 
schools to secure funds to enable him to procure a college education. He 
accordingly entered the West Virginia University in 1892 and graduated 
B.A. in 1896. He then matriculated as a student of law in the Columbian 
University at Washington, D. C., and graduated in 1897 with the degree 
of Bachelor of Laws. He maintained a high rank in all of his classes in 
both of the universities he attended. While a student at the West Vir- 
ginia University he was editor of the college paper published by the 
students, which is always regarded as a high honor among college students 
at all colleges and universities. He located at the City of Clarksburg and 
was admitted as a-member of that able Bar September 10, 1897, where he 
has since unremittingly practiced with marked success. 

In politics he is a Democrat, but in no sense can he be classed a poli- 
tician. He was never a candidate for any political office, nor has he ever 
revealed any desires in that direction. His only ambition has been to 
make himself an able member of the legal profession. He has been admitted 
to all the courts, State and Federal, including the Supreme Court of the 
United States, and has practiced mostly in Harrison County, but his prac- 
tice in special cases has extended to some ten to twelve counties in Central 
West Virginia. He began the practice of law with no means and borrowed 
money to sustain himself for a few months. He has by economical methods 
and close application acquired a fair competence. His diligence, energy, 
learning and fidelity to the interests of his clients won deserved success 
and remunerative pecuniary rewards. He handles his cases skilfully and 
successfully, and is genial and companionable and is popular among his 
associates at the Bar, as well as with the people generally. He was born 
July 20, 1873, and has not yet fully reached his prime. He is thoroughly 
grounded in the law and loves his profession dearly, which accounts for 
the success he has already attained, and portend still higher attainments 
for him in the future. 

In December, 1917, he volunteered, unconditionally, tendering his services 
to the President and Secretary of War in the present European world war, 
and asked to be sent to France. He has pushed his case in every conceivy- 
able proper way, but the War Department declines to call him into active 
service at the age of 44 years, 40 being the age limit at that time. He 
is not only a patriotic citizen, but he is public-spirited also, and takes a 
vigorous part in the development of his city, county and State. 


260 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


He married Miss Anita Collins, daughter of the late Hon. Creed Collins, 
of Ritchie County, West Virginia, June 17, 1903. Three children — Collins 
Haymond, Rachel Adelia and Thomas Harvey Smith—are the result of 
this union. He is a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and is a 
Freemason, having taken all the degrees of Symbolic Masonry and thirty- 
two of the Scottish Rite branch. He is also a member of the Mystie Shrine. 
He is a forward-thinking man, broad and liberal in his views and thor- 
oughly democratic in spirit. Although of a positive nature and disposition 
he disagrees with his opponents with modesty, and never with rancor or 
hate. He enjoys his home and the associations of his friends. 

His college fraternity was the Phi Sigma Kappa, and he belongs to the 
Sons of the American Revolution. He has one of the most extensive law 
libraries in West Virginia, and makes good use of it. 


Colonel Forrest W. Brown 


Our subject is the son of Thomas Augustus and Annie S. C. (Washington) 
Brown, and is one of the able and distinguished lawyers of the ‘‘ Eastern 
Panhandle ’’ counties of West Virginia. He was born near Charlestown, 
Jefferson County, Virginia, October 15, 1855. His education was received 
in private schools in Missouri, Philadelphia and Charlestown. Later he 
attended the Charlestown Academy, a well known, high grade institution 
of Jefferson County, wherein he rounded out, what was in those days, an 
average college education. After leaving the Academy he read law in the 
office of White and Trapnell, a long established law firm of the eastern 
section of West Virginia. After thoroughly mastering the fundamental 
principles of the law as laid down in the required text books, he passed a 
creditable examination before the Judges of the Supreme Court of Appeals 
of the State, and was admitted, when only twenty-one years of age, to 
practice his chosen profession in all the courts of West Virginia. He 
opened a law office at Charlestown and has there practiced, without inter- 
mission, to the present time. His practice is general and ineludes all of 
the State and Federal Courts. 

Col. Brown is a man of fine presence, of good stature, strong features, 
forceful as an advocate, possesses a logical mind, pleasant and agreeable 
in demeanor, and always makes a favorable impression upon courts and 
juries. In short he is an unusually successful trial lawyer. He is a close 
student, is well grounded in the fundamental principles of the law, and 
keeps abreast of the text books and court decisions. He is careful in the 
preparation of his cases, and is conscientious in advising his clients. He 
is a man of high personal character and has the confidence of all the 
people who know him personally. By upright living and fair dealing he 
has accumulated a large and profitable clientele, and has attained a high 
rank in the profession, not only in his section, but generally throughout 


FORREST W. BROWN 


262 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


the State. He is counsel for a large number of local corporations, and is 
thoroughly posted in corporation laws, to which he gives careful attention. 

He was elected on the Democratic ticket Prosecuting Attorney of Jeffer- 
son County in 1885, and was thrice re-elected to the same office, making 
sixteen years of service in that capacity. This unusual term of service is 
positive proof of his superior qualifications as a prosecutor of violators of 
State statutes, and of his fairness in the discharge of his official duties. 
But few men in any State have been elected by the people to four con- 
secutive terms as a Public Prosecutor. 

He was a Colonel on the staff of Governor W. A. MacCorkle during his 
four years’ term, from 1892 to 1896. 

Col. Brown is not only a prominent and successful lawyer, but he has 
taken a leading rank in the public affairs of his locality, and stands among 
its leading developers. He is also a member of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church and a prominent member of the Masonic Fraternity. He is a mem- 
ber of the West Virginia Bar Association, and was its President in 1895—’96. 
June 15, 1885, he married Miss Emma Beverly Tucker, a member of the 
well known Tucker family of Virginia. They have one son, Forrest Augustus 
Brown, who is engaged with his father in the practice of law at Charles- 
town, and is a promising member of the profession. 


Hon. William Ellsworth Glasscock 


William E. Glasscock, son of Daniel and Prudence Glasscock, was born 
in Monongalia County, Virginia, December 13, 1862, on a farm near Arnetts- 
ville, and received his early training in the public schools while living on 
his father’s farm. At the age of eighteen he went to Iowa, and spent four 
years attending school and in teaching. He returned to West Virginia and 
taught school at Arnettsville. While engaged in teaching at that place he 
was elected County Superintendent of Public Schools, and after serving a 
term as such he was re-elected. While serving his second term in that 
office he was elected Clerk of the Circuit Court of Monongalia County, and 
was re-elected, without opposition, six years later. When serving as Cireuit 
Clerk he decided to become a lawyer, and began a course of study of the 
necessary text books, and pursued the same with determination and vigor. 
After his term as Clerk expired he entered the Law Department of the 
West Virginia University, and after completing the course of study therein 
required he was admitted to the Morgantown Bar in January, 1903, and 
opened a law office in that city. Im 1907, however, he was appointed by 
President Roosevelt Collector of United States Internal Revenue for the 
State of West Virginia, which office he satisfactorily filled until the summer 
of 1908, when he resigned, having been nominated by the Republican party 
as a candidate for Governor of West Virginia, and in November of that 
year he was elected to the higuest office in the gift of the voters of his 
native State, and served therein for the full term of four years. 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 263 


He made a creditable record as Governor of his native State, maintaining 
the best traditions of his party, administering the duties of his high office 
in a conscientious manner and with an intellgent understanding of the 
needs of the hour and all questions affecting the public welfare, so as to 
command the respect even of his political opponents. He is a man of 
integrity and of absolute honesty of purpose, and is just and square in all 
of his dealings, both in private and im public life. He was a little late in 
entering upon the duties of a practicing lawyer, but his service as Clerk 
of the Circuit Court was of great value to him in the preparation of plead- 
ings and of framing orders, decrees, ete., the value of such practice and 
experience cannot easily be measured. By this long court room experience 
and by elose attention to his duties, Governor Glasscock commands a paying 
and indeed a very satisfactory clientage, which is rapidly increasing. 

Governor Glasscock married Miss Mary Alice Miller, of Monongalia 
County, August 15, 1888, and has one son, William Ellsworth, Jr., who is 
a volunteer in the United States Army in the war with the German Empire. 
They reside in the City of Morgantown, the seat of justice of Monongalia 
County. 

The Governor is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, is a Mason, 
an Odd Fellow and also a Knight of Pythias. 


Col. Guy D. Goff, B.A., M.A., LL.B. 


Among the legal fraternity of West Virginia the name Goff is a familiar 
one. The subject of this brief sketch, a son of Judge Nathan and Laura 
E. Goff, was born in Clarksburg, West Virginia, September 13, 1867; 
received his primary education in the public schools of his native city; 
later he took the classical course of study prescribed at Kenyon Miliatry 
College at Gambier, Ohio, one of the old and thorough educational institu- 
tions of the ‘‘ Buckeye State,’’ graduating therefrom with the degree of 
Bachelor of Arts, and later receiving the higher degree of Master of Arts 
in cursu. He then entered Harvard University Law School, and after 
taking the full law course prescribed by its curriculum, graduated in the 
elass of 1892, receiving its diploma as a Bachelor of Laws. Before return- 
ing to his West Virginia home in June of that year he was received as a 
member of the Boston Bar, and in the summer of 1892 he was received as 
a member of the Clarksburg, West Virginia Bar. After maturely con- 
sidering the matter he deemed it best to locate in some Western city, so 
he stopped in Chicago for a short time and was admitted as an attorney 
in all the courts of that great city. Not being fully satisfied he went still 
farther West, and located permanently in the City of Milwaukee, opened 
a law office and carried on a large and profitable law business until after 
the United States became involved in the present war with Germany, when 
he volunteered as a soldier in the defence of his country, and is now 


264 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


serving in the office of the Judge Advocate General of the United States 
Army at the City of Washington, with the rank of Colonel of Volunteers; 
and where it is said by those in position to know, ‘‘ he is making good,”’ 
and if the war lasts any considerable lengtn of time he is most likely ‘‘ to 
go up higher.’’ 

We do not mention Colonel Goff in this volume simply because he is a 
worthy son of an illustrious sire, and was born and reared in West Vir- 
ginia, but because of the high position he has attained in the profession, 
when at this hour his sun has just reached its meridian and he will, we are 
quite confident, before very many years, return to his native heath 
and spend the remnant of his years, which it is expected will be many, 
under the shadow of the trees where he reveled in the long gone by among 
the friends of his boyhood and early manhood ‘‘ amid the West Virginia 
hills.’’ 

Colonel Goff inherited a natural tendency toward the law, and but few 
young men had the advantages for the thorough educational equipment 
that came his way, which, coupled with the more than ordinary gifts in 
oratory that he possesses, and being also an almost unexcelled worker and 
toiler, he could not fail to attain to a high rank in his chosen profession. 
His practice has been general and has extended into all the courts in which 
he has practiced from nisi prius up to the Supreme Court of the United 
States, and has been remarkably successful. 

He was four years District Attorney for Milwaukee County, which 
includes the great City of Milwaukee, and filled the office ably and satis- 
factorily. Later he was United States District Attorney for the State of 
Wisconsin for five years, and we are assured by reliable men who know, 
that the State never had an abler one. This office he resigned when he 
volunteered in the United States Army in the war against Germany. 

He is a broad, thorough, conscientious lawyer, devoted to his profession 
in which he early took a leading place, and his private life is without a 
blemish. He is a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church and has 
always been a Republican in politics. He married Miss Anita Baker, of 
Wheelng, West Virginia, and has one child. He is companionable and 
cheerful and possesses the happy faculty of drawing men to him. He is of 
medium stature and commanding appearance. 


Allebach, A.B., LL.B. 


Our subject is a Pennsylvanian by birth and lineage, who located at 
Charleston as his permanent abiding place twelve years ago. His parents, 
Anson Milo and Clara Cornelia Allebach, are of ‘‘ Pennsylvania Dutch ’’ 
stock, who are known far and wide for their industry, intelligence and 
frugal habits. Leroy, the son,jwas born at New. Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 
July 25, 1880. He received his rudimentary education in the publie schools 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 26 


1 OU 


of his native town. He possessed an inborn purpose to become some way 
and some how — for his parents were short of funds to aid him —to be 
more than an ordinary farm hand; so he got together, by teaching school 
and other means, funds enough to enter Grove City College, Pennsylvania, 
to meet immediate demands, and then secured different kinds of employ- 
ment at Grove City, and during vacations to pay his way through college, 
graduating cum laude, in the classical course, with the degree of Bachelor 
of Arts, in the class of 1903. In his earlier years he formed the desire to 
become a lawyer, consequently after he had completed his academic course 
at Grove City he ‘‘ packed his grip ’’ for the University of Michigan, at 
Ann Arbor, and matriculated as a student in the Law Department of that 
widely celebrated institution, working as he did at Grove City to pay his 
way until he graduated, magnum cum laude, in the class of 1906; carrying 
with him the degree of Bachelor of Laws from this noted University, the 
best known Law School, and perhaps the very best in standing in the 
western portion of the Great Republic. In the manner we have stated he 
procured a thorough education and was now ready to enter upon a career 
of usefulness as a lawyer. 

Looking about for a permanent location for a young lawyer he fell upon 
Charleston, West Virginia, as a place of unusual promise, and accordingly 
hung out his shingle as an Attorney and Counselor at Law in September, 
1906, where it still hangs; and he has gathered around him a clientele 
large enough to keep him constantly occupied. He has specialized in cor- 
poration practice and represents a considerable number of concerns of that 
character, being regularly retained as one of the principal attorneys of the 
Kanawha and Michigan Railroad Company. His practice extends to all of 
the State and Federal Courts in West Virginia and Ohio, in which tribunals 
he often appears, and has been on several occasions heard in the Supreme 
Court of the United States. In these courts he has made an enviable 
record as a trial lawyer. He is a trained and forceful advocate and handles 
his cases with judgment and skill, and is invariably courteous to his oppo- 
nents. He is a hard student of law and keeps up with the court decisions 
and modern text books. In college he was an all round athlete, is large 
and muscular and is pleasant and agreeable in his associations. He is 
careful, clear-minded and thorough in his work, and in all of his dealings, 
both in public and private life, nothing reproachful or dishonorable has 
ever marred the even tenor of his way. He is modest and retiring and at 
all times courteous to his associates and friends. Cool as an ocean breeze 
and entirely fearless, like an ancient Norseman, he never shunned an issue, 
but courted it. 

He is a member of all the different branches of the Masonic Fraternity 
and is a Past Master of his lodge at Charleston, and has lived true to the 
high ideals of that institution. He is also a member of the Protestant 
Episcopal Church and the Benevolent Order of Elks. In all respects he is 
a forward-thinking man, broad and liberal in his views and thoroughly 
democratic in spirit. Though of a positive nature he disagrees with his 


266 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


opponents without rancor. Mr. Allebach was united in marriage with Miss 
Tella T. Thompson, February 19, 1917, and they have one child — Newton 
Webster. He is a Republican, but has never allowed polities to detract 
from his legal business. He is devoted to his home, and is keenly interested 
in the social welfare and the betterment of the people. 


Benjamin Beuhring Brown, A.M., LL.B. 


Benjamin B. Brown, son of the late Judge James H. Brown, and brother 
of Hon. James F. Brown, was born at Charleston, West Virginia, December 
7, 1863, and died at Nice, France, December 30, 1906. He was a graduate 
of both the University of West Virginia at Morgantown and the University 
of Virginia at Charlottesville, receiving from the former the degrees of 
Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts, and from the later the degree of 
Bachelor of Laws, having completed his studies in law under the direction 
of that eminent instructor, the late Dr. John B. Minor. On his return 
home he entered upon the practice of his profession as partner of his 
father, and quickly demonstrated his ability and qualifications. But in 
1888, because of ill health, upon the advice of his physicians that he should 
adopt an out of door life, he moved to Colorado Springs, and afterwards 
to Denver, Colorado, where, until his death, he made his home. It was the 
regret of his later years that he was inhibited from continuing in his pro- 
fession for which he had remarkable gifts and in which he was developing 
at a rapid rate. The few years of his active practice gave him an enviable 
rank among the leading lawyers at the Kanawha Bar. 

His strong and attractive personality and accomplishments soon made 
him a wide circle of friends, among whom. were many of the prominent 
and influential men of the community, and debarred by his physicians from 
the confinement incident to his profession, he at once with the energy 
characteristic of him, joined in the active enterprises then bringing Colo- 
rado to the front in mining, industrial and financial standing. 

Among other ventures he was one of the original syndicate first to 
recognize the merits of the ‘‘ Porphyry Copper,’’ and with his associates 
organized the ‘‘ Utah Copper Company,’’ now one of the largest, if not 
the largest, single producer of copper in the world. His mining interests 
extended to Creede, Cripple Creek, Leadville, Utah and Arizona, in all 
which his good judgment proved itself by bringing large returns. As he 
became more widely known he was brought to many positions of confidence 
and responsibility in connection with the strong institutions of his adopted 
city. Among others was the Colorado National Life Assurance Company, 
of which Mr. Brown was for a long time, and up to his death, the President. 

Having been eminently successful in his undertakings and amassed a 
fortune, he spent as much of his later years as could be spared from his 
duties, in travel, several times crossing both the Atlantic and Pacific 


BENJAMIN BEUHRING BROWN 


268 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Oceans and visiting most of the countries of the world, taking with him 
his wife and son, the latter then about twelve years of age, now an officer 
at the front in France. It was on one of these trips that he met his death 
at Nice. 

Mr. Brown was a man of marked personality, force of character, excep- 
tional judgment, kindly, but, nevertheless, firm and quick of decision. 
He married in 1888 Miss Anna L. Dickinson, of the pioneer family of that 
name in Kanawha, and left surviving him three children, Mary D., who 
married Charles L. Lowell, of Colorado Springs; Sallie L., who married 
Edward L. Whitaker, of St. Paul, and James F., who married Miss Lucile 
Ravenscraft, of St. Louis. Both of his sons-in-law and his son promptly 
responded to the Call of the Colors, and are now officers in the volunteer 
army against Germany. 


Captain Fleming Newman Alderson 


Captain Alderson is the son of the late Hon. John D. and Eugenia Adeline 
(Rader) Alderson, of Nicholas County, West Virginia. The senior Alderson 
was an eminent lawyer, and for a number of terms represented the Third 
District of West Virginia in the Congress of the United States, a short 
biography of whom appears in another portion of this volume. Captain 
Alderson was born at Summersville, Nicholas County, January 8, 1884. 
He received a rudimentary education in the publie schools of his native 
county. Later he attended St. Vincent’s College at Wheeling, Ohio County, 
and graduated from the Law Department of the West Virginia University 
in the class of 1907. He became a member of the Nicholas County Bar 
October 8, 1907. He practiced in the Circuit Courts of that, and three or 
four adjoining counties, for several years, with offices at Summersville, 
the seat of justice of the county, associated with his father. He finally 
established a branch office in the City of Richwood in the same county, 
where he has since resided, and has conducted a very profitable business 
in that rapidly developing city. He, however, still maintains his original 
oftice at the county seat, and has a large volume of business at both places. 
He is tall, well proportioned and has a commanding appearance, and is also 
polite, courteous and is popular with the people. 

In politics Captain Alderson is a Democrat, and like his father has 
always been a Democrat and a very active one. He was elected a member 
of the West Virginia Legislature from Nicholas County in 1910, and was 
active in framing legislation during the entire session. In 1913 he was 
appointed Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of 
West Virginia for the term of four years; but after serving two years he 
was made the nominee of his party as a candidate for Congress from the 
Fourth Congressional District, and was defeated by only a few hundred 
votes by his Republican opponent, the district being pronouncedly Repub- 
lican. He, however, did not allow these public positions to materially 


CAPTAIN FLEMING N. ALDERSON 


270 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


interfere with his law practice. He was appointed Chief of the Division 
of Military Census and Enrollment, with the rank of Captain, in the United 
States Army, in June, 1918, which position he now holds in the war with 
the Imperial Government of Germany. 

Captain Alderson is a member of the Masonic Fraternity and also the 
Greek letter ‘‘ frats ’’ of Phi Kappa Psi, Delta Chi and the law fraternity 
Theta Nu Epsilon. He has never married. He practices in all the State 
and Federal Courts and he has specialized in corporation practice, which 
has proved quite profitable and successful. 


Judge Isaiah C. Herndon, LL.B. 


Judge Herndon is a native West Virginian, who was born near Princeton 
in the County of Mercer, March 9, 1868. He was liberally educated, havy- 
ing spent four years at Princeton Academy, two years at Emory and Henry 
College, Virginia, and graduated from the Law Department of the West 
Virginia University in the class of 1892, receiving the pro merito degree 
of Bachelor of Laws. The year of his graduation he was admitted to the 
Bar of his native county, and before the close of the year he located per- 
manently at Welch, the seat of justice of McDowell County, where he 
entered upon the practice of his profession, throwing into it the enthusiasm 
of youth and that mental and physical vigor with which nature had liber- 
ally endowed him. Being gifted as a public speaker he ranked early among 
the best advocates and trial lawyers of that new and rapidly developing 
Bar. Business came to him rapidly, so that in a short space of time, by 
close attention to his business and the careful preparation of his cases, 
he was the possessor of a lucrative practice. 

Like most young West Virginia and Virginia lawyers he possessed an 
inborn taste for the, to them, luxury of politics. So we find our young 
friend in 1896 a candidate on the Republican ticket for Prosecuting Attor- 
ney of McDowell County, to which office he was elected by a large majority 
for the term of four years. He handled the responsible duties of that 
important position so satisfactorily to the people that they nominated and 
elected him for a second term. By this time his reputation was established 
as one of the leading members of his county Bar. His practice had extended 
into the courts of the adjoining counties, and his reputation as a successful 
practitioner was firmly fixed. 

In the fall campaign of 1904 he was nominated and elected a member 
of the Legislature of the State. He was attentive to his public duties and 
acquitted himself with credit and honor. In 1906 he was nominated and 
elected Judge of the Circuit Court to fill the unexpired term of Judge L. L. 
Chambers, deceased, in the Circuit composed of McDowell, Mercer and 
Monroe Counties. His services were so satisfactory to litigants and attor- 
neys he was re-elected to a full eight years’ term, which he is now serving 
ably and satisfactorily. He is careful, clear-headed and systematic in his 
work, and his history as a man, an attorney and as a judge is a record of 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia Ziel 


manliness and courage complete in every detail. He is married, has a 
pleasant family and his home-life is ideal. Naturally hopeful and happy 
his hours with his friends are always social and joyous. He is, therefore, 
popular with all the people who know him personally. 


Hon. J. Luther Wolfe, LL.B. 


Mr. Wolfe, son of G. B. and Laura Wolfe, was born at Given, Jackson 
County, West Virginia, February 14, 1875, and received his early education 
in the public schools of his native county. He has an inquiring mind and 
has always been an earnest seeker after knowledge. He reads much and 
digests what he reads. In this way he has pieced out a sound English 
education. To broaden his mind and increase his knowledge, while yet a 
young man, he engaged in the business, for several years, of teaching in 
the public schools of Jackson County, and proved efficient in that line of 
intellectual endeavor. While thus employed he decided to take up the 
: profession of law, and with this object in view, he began the study of legal 
textbooks, applying all his spare time to this end. The more time he 
devoted to such investigation the greater became his interest, until, in 1898, 
he abandoned teaching entirely, entered the Law Department of the West 
Virginia University at Morgantown and completed the required course of 
law studies, graduating therefrom in the class of 1900. He returned to 
Ripley, the seat of justice of his native county, opened a law office in 1901 
and became an active practicing attorney. By close application to business 
he has gathered about him a profitable clientele, which is steadily increas- 
ing. He is endowed with good morals, has maintained an upright life, is 
thoroughly trustworthy and by fair dealing has secured the confidence 
of his fellow citizens. 

His practice is of a general character and extends into all the courts of 
West Virginia, both State and Federal, and also into the adjacent counties. 
The firm of Stone and Wolfe, of which he is a member, is firmly established 
and is carrying on a profitable and enlarging business. 

Mr. Wolfe is a Republican in politics and in the campaign of 1916 was 
elected a member of the Legislature from Jackson County, and rendered 
efficient and satisfactory service as Chairman of the Committee on Rail- 
roads and also as a member of the Judiciary, Forfeited and Unappropriated 
Lands and Redistricting Committees. He, however, informs us that he has 
laid aside all side lines and for the future is devoting all his time to the 
legitimate practice of his profession. 

February 23, 1902, he married Miss Ivy L. Guinn, by whom he has one 
child. 

He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and holds membership 
in the Masonic, Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias Fraternities. 

He was re-elected to the West Virginia Legislature in 1918, and was 
chosen Speaker of the House of Delegates January 8, 1919. 


272 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


‘Coleman Cabell Higginbotham 


Mr. Higginbotham is the son of William T. and Mary F. Higginbotham 
of Upshur County, Virginia, who was born December 19, 1850, and pieced 
out a creditable education, mostly by the reading and studying of such 
books as would develop his intellect and store his mind with knowledge 
that would be useful to him in a future career. He was always studious 
in his younger years, and since his admission to the Bar, in 1871, he has 
been one of the hardest workers in the profession to go to the bottom of 
every law question which arose in the many law cases he has handled in 
a professional career of almost a half century. He is known as an able 
and careful chancery lawyer and has the reputation of being one of the 
most judicious of lawyers in the preparation of his pleadings. He has 
never been noted for any particular gifts or attainments as an advocate 
or trial lawyer, but he stands high as one who is thoroughly posted in the 
fundamental principles of the profession, and never allows himself to enter 
a court trial without a full and clear understanding of his cases. He is, 
therefore, an office lawyer of a high standard, and knows beforehand what 
he must do or present before entering a courthouse contest; consequently 
it is difficult to disconcert him or throw him off his balance. The result is, 
he has had for years a profitable clientele and has maintained a high rank 
in the profession in the central section of the State. He practices in Upshur 
and surrounding counties, in the Circuit and Supreme Court of the State, 
and also in the United States District and Cireuit Court of Appeals of the 
Fourth Judicial Cireuit. 

Mr. Higginbotham has always been a Democrat, but in no sense has he 
ever been a politician. He never was a candidate for any political office 
of any sort, but was once an aspirant for Circuit Judge, which was strictly 
in the line of his profession. All of his time and energies for nearly half 
a century have been devoted exclusively to the practice of the law. 

He married Miss Mary Ida Day and they have a family of five children. 

He is a member of the Masonic Fraternity and resides in the city of 
Buckhannon. He was admitted to practice in the Circuit Court of Upshur 
County in 1871, just after he had reached his majority, and has adhered 
faithfully to his calling, without loss of time, to the present. His personal 
life and character are above reproach. 


Walter Smith Sugden, LL.B. 


Mr. Sugden, son of James T. and Elizabeth Smith Sugden, was born 
April 9, 1880, at Amsterdam, N. Y.; received his preliminary education in 
Amsterdam High School; was two years (’98 and 799) a student at Philips 
Andover Academy, Andover, Massachusetts; was four years (’99—’03) 
at Harvard University, and from 1903 to 1906 he took the full law course 
prescribed for the graduation of law students ac that great seat of learning 
and was awarded the degree of Bachelor of Laws. But few lawyers have 


Cc. C. HIGGINBOTHAM 


274 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


entered upon the profession with an equipment and training equal to 
Mr. Sugden. He started with sharp tools, and has made good use of them. 
He came to West Virginia January 12, 1910, and on that day was admitted 
to the Tyler County Bar, where he has since practiced in that and the 
surrounding counties with marked success. He is the junior member of the 
able firm of Kimball and Sugden at Sistersville, West Virginia, where they 
maintain an extensive business in all the varied branches of the profession, 
but specialize in corporation practice. Their business extends into all of 
the State and Federal Courts, including the Supreme Court of the United 
States, and is steadily on the increase. 

Like his partner, Mr. C. N. Kimball, he has adhered to the Republican 
party the greater part of his mature life, but both of them were ‘‘Pro- 
gressives’’ in the political campaign of 1912, our subject that year being 
a Delegate to the National Convention that brought forth two Republican 
candidates for the Presidency. So this year he is at a loss to place himself 
politically; consequently he dubs himself a ‘‘Progressive.’’ He, however, 
has not devoted much time to political controversies and never sought an 
office, and never held but one, viz., Solicitor for the city of Sistersville, one 
term. He is, therefore, a lawyer and not a politician, and that is one of the 
main reasons why he holds so high a rank in the legal profession of the 
State. Our observation, covering a period of many years, justifies the state- 
ment that, in most instances, those lawyers who intermeddle the least in 
political controversies, as a rule, are the most erudite members of the great 
profession. 

Mr. Sugden is a man of simple habits; is courteous and dignified in his 
general deportment; attends to his duties promptly and faithfully; is a 
careful and thoughtful adviser, and is a strong, aggressive trial lawyer. 
He was a high grade athelete in his college days. He is also a member of 
the Masonic Fraternity, having connected himself with its different 
branches. He is an active member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and 
belongs to a number of college fraternities and took a lively part in all 
of them. He is highly esteemed by the people in Sistersvilie, where he has 
spent the larger part of his thus far useful and successful life. 

Mr. Sugden was united in marriage with Miss Rachel E. Hutchison, 
February 12, 1916, and one child is the result of this union. 


Judge Walter Hoyt O’Brien 


We have in West Virginia, at this time, two Circuit Court Judges by the 
name of O’Brien. The one we are now considering is a native of Jackson 
County, Virginia, son of Thomas B. and Celia (McKown) O’Brien. He was 
born March 4, 1857, and attended the public schools until he was fifteen 
years of age, when he began to teach in the public schools. After teaching 
for a short time he attended select private schools at Lone Pine, Ravenswood 
and Ripley, both of them in Jackson County, where he availed himself of 
higher courses of study than were taught in the common schools; the object, 


JUDGE W. H. O'BRIEN 


276 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


at that time, being to attain higher grade scholarship in order to better 
equip himself for the profession of teaching, which he followed for seven- 
teen years. 

He was elected Assessor, in 1880, of the Second District of Jackson 
County, in which position he served from January 1, 1881, to December 31, 
1884. He was next elected Clerk of the Circuit Court of Jackson County 
and served therein from January 1, 1891 to December 31, 1896. He studied 
law while Clerk of the Circuit Court and was admitted to the Bar March 4, 
1897, when he was forty years of age. He was elected Prosecuting Attorney 
of Jackson County and served as such from January 1, 1901, to December 
31, 1904. He was a Commissioner of the United States District Court from 
1904 to 1912. While Clerk of the Circuit Court he became thoroughly 
familiar with all legal froms and pleadings, which were very helpful in his 
subsequent practice. He also necessarily absorbed the methods of successful 
lawyers in the trial of important causes, because of his constant presence 
being required in the courtroom during court sessions, all which aided 
greatly in making him a successful trial lawyer and helped to bring to him 
a profitable clientage. He was honorable and square in all of his dealings, 
and had the confidence of the people, which is the sine qua non to success 
in all callings. 

In the fall of 1912 he was elected Judge of the Cireuit Court of the Fifth 
Judicial Circuit for the term of eight years, and is now acceptably serving 
in that highly honorable position. His circuit is composed of Mason, Jack- 
son, Roane and Calhoun counties. As a Judge his honor is unsullied and 
his integrity has never been questioned. As a matter of fact, in every office 
he ever held he was faithful, honorable and just. 

He is a Republican ‘‘of the Old School,’’ and being a good stump speaker, 
he has participated actively in a number of hotly contested political cam- 
paigns. He married Miss Dora Coe, June 16, 1877. They have six sons, 
four of whom are living, two of them are volunteers in the United States 
Army, in the war against Germany, and the two younger are subject to the 
last draft order. He is a member of the Masonic, Odd Fellows and Knights 
of Pythias Fraternities, and is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, especially in its Sunday School department, being teacher of a 
Bible Class for nearly a score of years. He is always found on the moral 
side of every question that comes before the people. He is also an enter- 
prising, progressive citizen, ever keeping his eyes to the front. He came 
to the Bar a little late in life, but he has been quite successful as a lawyer 
and jurist. 


Judge Neil Judson Fortney 


The subject of this sketch was born néar Independence, Preston County, 
Virginia, November 22, 1852 (in a former history stated as 1849, but the 
error was not discovered until too late for correction). He was the young- 
est son of a family of ten children of David H. and Angeline S. Fortney. 
Judge Fortney, who ranks among the leading lawyers of West Virginia, is 


JUDGE NEIL J. FORTNEY 


278 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


~ 


of French descent on the paternal side and of Irish and German on the 
maternal side. His grandfather, Daniel Fortney, who was a native of 
France, came to this country about the year 1780 and settled in Frederick 
County, Maryland, and from there removed to Preston County (then Monon- 
galia County, Virginia), about the year 1796. His early education was 
received at Independence, Preston County, and he removed with his parents 
to Indianola, Iowa, in 1865, at which place he attended the public schools 
for two years. He then took a three years’ course at Simpson Centenary 
College of that place. Leaving Iowa in 1872, he spent some time in travel- 
ing over Western and Northwestern States and Territories, and engaged in 
school teaching and other employments. Finally his native State and 
County appealed to him, so in 1873 he returned to Independence, near where 
he was born and had spent his early youth, and decided upon entering the 
profession of law. In 1877 he was appointed Deputy Clerk of the County 
Court of Preston, which place he filled for two years; then, in 1897, having 
passed an examination before the Supreme Court of Appeals of the State, 
he was admitted to the Bar of his native State as an attorney-at-law. 

At the succeeding election, 1880, he was elected Prosecuting Attorney of 
Preston County, in which position he served well nigh continuously for 
twenty years. By display of great ability and the exercise of the most 
careful attention to the needs of the people of his county, coupled with 
absolute fairness in the discharge of his duties, he became and continued 
to be very popular as an officer, but voluntarily declined to offer himself 
for re-election to that office. 

Combining the alert, constructive and compact reasoning powers peculiar 
to the races from which he sprang, endowed him with ready ability in 
digesting matters of law and fact and the true discernment of equity. His 
possession of these qualities, together with his untarnished record for 
impartiality and fairness in his long practice as an attorney, were so well 
known among the representative citizens of the judicial cireuit now com- 
posed of Preston and Taylor counties, that it resulted in his selection in the 
year 1912, by the Republican party as its candidate, in his election to the 
office of Judge of the Cireuit Court by next to the largest majority obtained 
by any of the Judges of the State. He is now in his sixth year of his 
service on the Bench, which service has proved most satisfactory both to 
litigants and attorneys. A 

Judge Fortney took up his residence in Kingwood in 1874, and on 
June 3, 1879, was married to Miss Alice Edna Godwin, daughter of Captain 
Joseph M. Godwin of Kingwood, and they have one son, E. Vernon, living, 
who is at this writing one of the two Republican nominees for member of 
the State Legislature from Preston County. Judge Fortney’s personal and 
official character has, through all the years, been marked with probity and 
general uprightness, which has given him a wide influence in his native 
county and State. He is a member of the Elks, Odd Fellows, Knights of 


Pythias and L. O. O. M. 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


bo 
=T 
je tt) 


Hon. William Gordon Mathews 


‘«4 man with noble ancestry,’’ says Pauline, in Bulwer’s Lady of 
Lyons, ‘‘is like a representative of the past.’’? But like the supposed prince 
to whom this eulogy was applied, the subject of this sketch depreciates the 
idea of being ‘‘a pensioner on the dead,’’ having sprung from the people 
and tracing his origin to an equally honorable and honest source. Being a 
scion of a noted Virginia family, all of whom were honorable, and some of 
whom were distinguished, yet this comparatively young man, while he duly 
respects his forebears, prefers to stand upon his own merits and rely upon 
his own achievements. His father, the late Hon. Henry Mason Mathews, 
a graduate of the University of Virginia, noted for his scholarship and dis- 
tinguished as a lawyer, who was four years Attorney-General of West Vir- 
ginia, and later served a like period as its Chief Executive, leaving behind 
him, in both offices, records which were highly appreciated by the citizens 
of the Commonwealth at large. He died all too soon, his sun only having 
fairly reached its noon. He was born in Greenbrier County, Virginia, in 
1834 and died in 1884. 

William Gordon Mathews is also a native of Greenbrier County, West 
Virginia; was born in 1877; after the usual period of pubhe school attend- 
ance he became a student at the Lewisburg Military Academy and subse- 
quently at the University of Virginia at Charlottesville, graduating there- 
from when only twenty years of age, in the class of 1897. When he reached 
his majority he came to Charleston, Kanawha County, was admitted to the 
Bar and became a member of the well-known and able law firm of Mollohan, 
MeClintie and Mathews, he being the junior member. After the death of 
Mr. Mollohan, a few years ago, the firm now is McClintic, Mathews and 
Campbell, and is conducting a large and profitable law business. They 
practice in all the State and Federal Courts and embrace all the different 
branches of the law. 

Mr. Mathews belongs to the Democratic school of politics. He was the 
nominee of his party in 1908, being chosen by acclamation at the 
Wheeling Judicial Convention as a candidate for a seat on the Bench of 
the Supreme Court of Appeals of the State, but was defeated with his 
entire party ticket. Although he was quite young at the time of his can- 
didacy, it was universally admitted that he possessed, in a pronounced 
degree, all the elements to become an able and successful jurist. He is 
thoroughly grounded in the law; is an industrious worker; is courteous and 
dignified in his general deportment; attends to his duties promptly; is 
more inclined to listen than to speak; is kind hearted, frank, straightforward 
and independent; is thoroughly honest and trustworthy, and is among the 
highly talented members of the entire State Bar. While he enjoys mixing 
in polities to a certain extent, yet he has never aspired to any office except 
strictly in the line of his profession. His one leading, single purpose in 
life seems to be to become a great lawyer, and he is rapidly heading in that 
direction. ¥ 


2180 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


The only public office Mr. Mathews has thus far held is Referee in Bank- 
tuptey, which position he has filled acceptably for a number of years past. 
He is an active and efficient member of the West Virginia Bar Association; 
was its President in 1913, and was the youngest presiding officer the Associa- 
tion ever had. Its ‘‘Year Book’’ contains a number of timely papers on 
live subjects written by him. One of these, ‘‘Martial Law in West Vir- 
ginia,’’ created wide discussion both in and outside of the State, and was 
generally regarded as an able production, and exhibited deep research. It 
was ordered printed and distributed as a public document by the United 
States Senate. i 

January 28, 1903, Mr. Mathews married Miss Helen B. Davis, of Charles- 
ton, West Virginia, and they have an interesting family of three children. 
Mr. and Mrs. Mathews are prominent in the social and ecivie life of Charles- 
ton, and have the confidence and respect of all the people who know them. 

Mr. Mathews was appointed by the President as the legal member of the 
District Board for the Southern District of West Virginia, under the 
Selective Service Act of May 18, 1917, and actively served as such since 
his appointment to the close of the war with Germany. 


Judge Henry Stuart Cato, LL.B. 


Judge Cato, youngest child and only son of John Lane and Sarah Maury 
Lasley Cato, was born at Saint Albans, Kanawha County, West Virginia, 
February 26, 1878; was educated in the public schools of that place; entered 
the law office of Vinson and Thompson at Huntington, West Virginia, in 
August, 1897, and there served as stenographer and read law under their 
direction until September, 1899, when he entered the Law Department of 
the West Virginia University, graduating at the head of his class in June, 
1900. In August of that year he began the practice of law at Charleston, 
West Virginia, and by close attention to his duties he drew attention to 
himself as a young attorney with far above the average attainments and 
possibilities, and gathered about him a rapidly increasing eclientage. In 
1902 he became the junior member of the firm of Linn, Byrne and Cato. 
In February, 1906, he formed a partnership with Hon. Adam B. Littlepage 
and Thomas A. Bledsoe, under the firm name of Littlepage, Cato and 
Bledsoe, which continued until February, 1911, when Mr. Littlepage with- 
drew, he having been elected a member of the American Congress, leaving 
the firm simply as Cato and Bledsoe, which continued until September 10, 
1917, when Mr. Cato was appointed by Governor Cornwell, Judge of the 
Tenth Judicial Circuit, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Honorable 
Samuel D. Littlepage, which office he filled with great acceptability. 

As a lawyer Mr. Cato was careful, clear-headed, systematic, vigilant and 
thorough in his work. In argument he addressed the reason, the practical 
judgment, and was clear-sighted with respect of motives and ulterior 
influences. His history as a man and an attorney is a record of manliness 


JUDGE HENRY S. CATO 


282 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


complete. He is a hard student of law, and dignified it by exhibiting in 
the practice the highest types of integrity, fidelity and learning. His 
learning is varied and extensive. He is a most genial companion, deals 
fairly with his associates, is thorough and accurate, and as an advocate he 
is forceful and convincing. He acquired a large practice, because he pos- 
sessed real knowledge of legal principles, which never fails to bring success. 
His strong forte was in trial practice. 

As a Judge he measured up, in all respects, to the high standard fixed for 
him by his friends. He has the judicial temperament, is considerate, fair 
and just. His studious habits take him to the bottom of the eases that 
come before him, and he is honest and incorruptible. He is also kindly 
disposed in his make-up and has a charming personality. He is popular 
with both lawyers and suitors and made an excellent record as a nisi prius 
Judge. 

Judge Cato has never married; is a member of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church; has always been a Democrat; is a member of the American, the 
West Virginia and Kanawha County Bar Associations and the Phi Kappa 
Psi Greek Letter Fraternity. His photograph shows him as possessing the 
bearing and.appearance of a student and a Judge. He never was a candi- 
date for any public office, and never held one until he was appointed a 
Cireuit Judge. He was the candidate of the Democratic party for an 
election by the people for the position he filled by appointment of the 
Governor. His party being in the minority, he was defeated. 


Luther Colfax Anderson, A.M., LL.B. 


Mr. Anderson was born in Lewis County, West Virginia, February 9, 
1869; son of Lorenzo Dow and Rebecca Anderson; was educated in the 
public schools of his native county; later attended the Ohio Wesleyan 
University, Delaware, Ohio, from which he graduated in 1894, receiving the 
classical degree of Bachelor of Arts; in 1899 it conferred upon him the 
degree of Master of Arts. He then entered the Law Department of the 
West Virginia University, from which he graduated in 1896 with the degree 
of Bachelor of Laws. In June of that year he was admitted to practice in 
the Circuit Court of Lewis County. He, however, spent three or four years 
in publie school work before entering regularly upon his profession. He 
was principal of Pennsboro, West Virginia, public schools in 1895; was 
Assistant State Superintendent of Public Schools of West Virginia from 
1897 to 1899 inclusive; Assistant Editor ‘‘West Virginia School Journal’’ 
for two years; appointed Assistant Attorney-General of West Virginia in 
1899 and served therein to and including 1900. Im all of these public 
positions he acquitted himself most creditably. 

While in college he was an associate editor of the ‘‘Ohio Wesleyan 
Transcript’? and was editor-in-chief of ‘‘Monticola’’ at the West Vir- 


HON. LUTHER C. ANDERSON 


2:84 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


ginia University. He entered upon the practice of law at Welch, MeDowell 
County, as a member of the large law firm of Rucker, Keller, Hamill and 
Anderson, which was dissolved by the death of General Rucker and the 
appointment of B. F. Keller to the position of United States Judge for the 
Southern District of West Virginia. The present firm is Anderson, Strother, 
Hughes and Curd. The firm practices in all of the State and Federal 
Courts, including the Supreme Court of the United States and the Federal 
and State Courts of West Virginia and Virginia. The record shows that 
Mr. Anderson himself has appeared in upwards of two hundred cases in 
the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, a record, perhaps, not 
surpassed by any other West Virginia lawyer. He is an upright man, 
honest in both thought and purpose. His life as a lawyer, whether judged 
with reference to labor performed or pecuniary gain, places him in the 
front rank of his profession. Rarely is there found among men one so 
systematic in mind and character, one so sound of judgment, so unswerving 
in moral perception, so faithful to duty and so loyal to the right as the 
subject of this sketch. His career is another evidence of the correctness of 
the proverb, ‘‘ Work will never fail to win.’’ 

Mr. Anderson was united in marriage with Miss Frances Rummel, of 
Charleston, in 1902. They have three sons. They are all devoted to their 
home and enjoy the communion of the family circle. He is a member of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church and represented his State as a member 
of the General Conference of that Church in 1912. For years he has been 
active in Church and Young Men’s Christian Association work. In 1910 he 
published a book entitled ‘‘The Trial of Christ, from a Lawyer’s Stand- 
point.’? In 1907 he also published ‘‘The Negotiable Instruments Law,’’ a 
textbook of value to the profession. He is a Republican in polities, but 
devotes his entire time to his profession. Among his friends he is always 
social, joyous and happy. He was elected a member of the West Virginia 
Legislature in the campaign of 1918. 


Hon. Wm. M. O. Dawson 


The subject of this memorial was born May 21, 1853, on the strip of land 
which was in dispute between the States of Maryland and West Virginia, 
but which was afterwards determined to be a part of West Virginia. He 
was the son of Francis Ravenscraft Dawson and his mother’s name was 
Leah Kite Dawson. He was twice married. His first wife was Miss Luda 
Neff, a daughter of John T. Neff, and by this union there was one son, 
Daniel Dawson, of the Huntington Bar. His second wife was Miss Maude 
Brown, of Kingwood, and by this union there were two children, Leah 
Jane and William Brown Dawson. His second wife and children are resi- 
dents of the City of Charleston. 

His life was a busy one. He was first a clerk in a store. He then taught 
school; then learned the printing trade; was next editor of the Preston 


HON. WM. M. 0. DAWSON 


286 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


County Journal, which he made one of the strongest publications in the — 
State, and by this means first attracted the attention of the public as a 
man of ability and absolute integrity. He later qualified as a practicing 
lawyer. His greatest successes, however, were in the political field and he 
entered on that work very early in life, and was Chairman of the Repub- 
lican Executive Committee of Preston County at the age of twenty-one, 
which position he held for thirteen consecutive years. 

In 1880, at the age of twenty-seven, he was elected to the State eset 
in which he served for eight years, declining a nomination for a third term. 
In this forum he demonstrated unparalleled ability as a legislative drafts- 
man of important measures. In 1891 he was made State Chairman of the 
Republican organization, and it was during his term in that position that 
the first State-wide successes attended the Republican party. He served 
two terms as Secretary of State, and in 1904 he was elected Governor. 
During his term many important State reforms were introduced. After the 
expiration of that term he became an asscciate counsel in the controversy 
between the State of Virginia and the State of West Virginia, in which 
position he rendered efficient and satisfactory service. In 1913 he was 
appointed a member of the State Board of Control, and in 1915 he became 
a member of the Public Service Commission of the State. In all of these 
exalted positions he served the people with great acceptability. 

The above are the main events of his career stated in their chronological 
order and they show an unbroken record of power and achievement, but 
such a listing of honors conveys but little real knowledge of the real man 
much as those of us now living knew him, and it is the despair of the 
biographer to daw a word picture of the man for coming generations. 

For more than thirty years he was a power in the dominant political 
party of the State, and he is considered by many thinking men to have 
been the best adviser his party ever had and the most effective, and at the 
same time carrying himself as the most modest and the quietest man that 
ever took sucha prominent part for so long a time in public life. He was 
a constructive statesman of far more than average attainments, and for 
nearly a generation left his impress upon the times in which he lived. 
His motives and purposes were often misconstrued. He, however, was 
honorable in all of his dealings and at all times stood four-square in all 
of his private and public acts. Im due season his name will be properly 
placed among the most distinguished and ablest men the State has thus 
far produced. He was a good lawyer and a safe counselor. 

Those of us who personally knew this reticent, retiring, powerful man, 
valued his friendship, admired his power of judgment, respected his sterling 
character for honor and uprightness and his lovable nature more than we 
have the ability to express. He was a faithful and consistent member of 
the Presbyterian Church and was also a member of the Masonic Fraternity, 
and devoted in later years much of his time to metaphysical and psycho- 
logical research. He departed this life at Charleston whiie in the active 


(90) 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 287 


discharge of his onerous official duties, March 12, 1916, and his remains 
were laid to rest at Kingwood, Preston County, the home of his earlier 
years, in the presence of a large concourse of sorrowing friends and 
relatives. 


Hon. Andrew J. Horan 


Our subject is one of the able, all-round, well-known, firmly established 
lawyers of southern West Virginia. He was born at Malden, Kanawha 
County, Virginia, May 13, 1856, and is the son of P. D. Horan, a 
teacher of pronounced scholarship and ability in the Catholic Church. 
Andrew, or ‘‘Andy,’’ as he has always been called, was educated in the 
public schools, also at Xaverian Brothers’ Academy, Louisville, Kentucky, 
and was particularly and carefully taught by his father in the higher 
branches of learning. Whilst he never attended a college of any kind, it 
was generally understood that the private training he received at the hands 
of his father was, in all respects, equal to the average college course of that 
period. After completing his academic course of studies, he began to read 
law, mainly under his own direction, and pursued it with diligence and 
alacrity, until he was prepared to undergo a searching examination by 
Judges Adam C. Snyder, Homer A. Holt and Henry Brannon,—the last 
two being Circuit Judges at the time, but later all of them were members 
of the Supreme Court of Appeals of this State, and Judge Snyder, at the 
time he secured a license, was then a Judge of the Supreme Court. He was 
admitted to the Bar in April, 1888. During that year he and the late 
Hon. John D. Alderson formed a partnership under the firm name of 
Alderson and Horan, which continued with law offices at Summersville, West 
Virginia, until November, 1907, when he retired from the firm, and in 
November, 1908, formed a partnership with Hon. C. W. Osenton, at Fayette- 
ville, West Virginia, under the firm name of Osenton and Horan, from 
which firm he recently retired and located in Charleston. Both of these 
firms were and are leaders of the Bar in their respective localities, and 
controlled large clientages. The firm at Summerville was employed on one 
side or the other of every important case in Nicholas and two or three 
adjoining counties; and the same is largely true of the firm of Osenten and 
Horan located in Fayette County. All three of the lawyers who composed 
these two firms ranked, in Mr. Alderson’s life, among the ablest attorneys 
in southern West Virginia, and the firm of Osenten and Horan still main- 
tains the same high standing. j 

Mr. Horan is an all-round lawyer, and is thorough in all the different 
branches of the profession. He is careful and thoughtful in his advice to 
clients, and is upright in thought and purpose. His personal character is 
without spot or blemish and he possesses, in a very large degree, that 
special essential to success in every profession — common sense. His judg- 
ment may not Be unerring, but the writer knows him well enough to state 


288 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


that his conclusions are generally sound on all important subjects. More- 
over, he is honorable and trustworthy in all of his dealings with his fellow 
men, which accounts for the success he has achieved as an attorney and 
counselor at law. With his modesty and urbanity, he never reveals any 
shadow of weakness or lack of decision. When satisfied that he is right 
he is unalterable, unchanging and unchangeable. With such equipment it 
is no wonder that he has succeeded in the law. 

Mr. Horan, in his political affiliations, has always been a Republican. 
He was elected to membership in the State Senate of West Virginia in 1900 
and served four years in that important legislative body. He was active, 
especially in committee work, being Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, 
the most important of all the committees of the body, and also a member of 
other committees. The Senatorial District he represented was composed 
of the counties of Nicholas, Braxton, Clay, Kanawha and Boone. 

Senator Horan is married, but has had no children. He is an active 
member of the State Bar Association, and for many years has attended its 
annual meetings with marked regularity, and has prepared and read several 
valuable papers on different legal subjects before the Association. 


Hon. Charles Wesley Dillon 


Mr. Dillon, son of John Wesley and Docia (Evans) Dillon —his mother 
being a cousin of ‘‘ Fighting Bob Evans ’’ of the United States Navy — 
was born in Bland County, Virginia, February 8, 1865, and grew up on the 
parental homestead in the country, enduring the hard knocks of a farmer 
boy. However he did not then know that he was building up a whip-cord 
muscle that would stay with him and serve him well through his entire 
life. He attended the district schools and received the best rudimentary 
education that class éf schools could impart. Subsequently he attended the 
Virginia Polytechnic Institute at Blacksburg. After graduation he was 
employed as a grade hand for a short time on the construction work of the 
Norfolk and Western Railroad. He then moved to Fayette County, West 
Virginia, in 1886, and taught school for two years, during which period 
he was reading law under the direction of L. G. Gaines, a leading attorney 
of Fayetteville. In 1888 he was admitted to the Fayette County Bar, and 
immediately thereafter entered upon the practice of the profession, where 
his rise to prominence has been swift and sure. His practice has extended 
into the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, the Federal Courts 
within the State, and the Supreme Court of the United States. He is 
familiar with all branches of the law and is always apparently ‘‘ at 
home,’’ and sure of his position, in all his cases in whatever court he may 
be placed. He carries a distinguished personal appearance, is dignified 
and graceful in manners and withal is modest and unassuming. He is 
solidly grounded in the profession, is upright in character, and always 


HON. CHARLES W. DILLON 


290 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


shows marked legal ability in important causes. On the whole he has made 
a record to be envied. 

Soon after entering upon the practice he associated himself with E. L. 
Nuckolls, a young man of about his own age, who was also able, reliable 
and industrious, and the firm of Dillon and Nuckolls is to-day one of the 
ablest and best known law firms in Southern West Virginia. 

Mr. Dillon early allied himself with the Republican party, and for many 
years has been one of its active leaders in West Virginia. He filled the 
oftice of Prosecuting Attorney of Fayette County for two full terms of four 
years each, and it is but just for us to say he was one of the ablest and 
fairest prosecutors the entire State has ever had. -Fayette is a large coal 
producing county and for many years past has been infested with all grades 
and characters of violators of the law, which requires a man of ability and 
courage as Prosecuting Attorney to enforce the law and thus keep crime 
reduced to the minimum. Mr. Dillon, therefore, was just the man for the 
place, because every man who committed a crime was taught to understand 
he would be punished for his wrong-doing. Hence the standard of citizen- 
ship was by him materially elevated in that county. 

The tax laws of West Virginia had become antiquated, and it was found 
necessary to revise the entire tax system in order to assess the valuation 
of property on a more equitable basis. Mr. Dillon was a leader in that 
movement. The State Legislature enacted necessary laws in that direction; 
created the office of State Tax Commissioner, and in the fall of 1904 Mr. 
Dillon was appointed to that position by Governor A. B. White. He imme- 
diately entered upon his public duties, and at the end of three years, after 
he had thoroughly organized, in a most efficient manner the new tax system, 
resigned the office and resumed his law business in Fayetteville, which had 
necessarily materially suffered because of his three years absence. 

In the spring of 1900 Mr. Dillon and his law partner, Mr. E. L. Nuckolls, 
compiled and published ‘‘ The West V.rginia Pocket Code,’’ a compilation 
of the laws of the State, which proved to be a popular publication, and 
filled a long felt want by the legal fraternity of the State. 

He was a candidate for the nomination for Governor under a State- 
wide primary law, but after a vigorously contested campaign, although he 
polled a large popular vote, he was defeated. Since that campaign he has 
devoted his undivided time to the practice of his profession. He, however, 
has a large following of strong political friends throughout the State and, 
therefore, need not feel discouraged over the failure of his first political 
adventure should he desire to ‘‘ cast his hat in the ring ’’ for future favors 
at the hands of his political friends. 

Mr. Dillon is married and has one child. He is an active member of the 
Masonic Fraternity. In addition to his large legal business he is interested 
in the business of coal mining and banking in his adopted county, and is 
not only a successful lawyer, but maintains a high standing in business 
circles as well. He is a prominent State developer. 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 291 


Stephen Goodloe Jackson, B.S., LL.B. 


Mr. Jackson is the son of J. Goodloe and Martha (Bassel) Jackson, of 
Jane Lew, Lewis County, West Virginia, well known and well to do citizens 
or one of the finest agricultural sections of the State. The Jackson’s and 
Bassel’s are both honored, historical families in West Virginia, several of 
whom have more than State-wide reputations. Young Stephen G. was born 
at Jane Lew, March 7, 1884, and after attending the public schools of his 
native town matriculated as a student at the West Virginia University 
and graduated therefrom with the degrees of Bachelor of Science and 
Bachelor of Laws. Subsequently he entered the Law Department of Yale 
University, and after taking the required course of law studies was awarded 
the diploma of Bachelor of Laws. In both of these great schools he was a 
popular and praiseworthy student. During his stay at the West Virginia 
University he enjoyed the honor of being class president, debater’s league 
captain, cadet captain, and winner of a special gold prize for best all-round 
debater. He was also honored as being one of the three distinguished 
eadets for three years in the military department. He was a member of 
the Sigma Chi Fraternity at West Virginia University, and was one of the 
founders of the Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity at Yale, and has repre- 
sented it in National Conventions and for several years as Trustee. 

Shortly after leaving college in July, 1908, he was admitted as a member 
of the Weston, Lewis County Bar, in which profession he has ever since 
engaged with enthusiasm and brilliant success. Desirous of a wider field 
for display of his talents he located in the City of Clarksburg in an adjoin- 
ing county, and is the junior member of the strong law firm of Smith and 
Jackson, is carrying on an extensive and profitable business (Mr. Smith 
is mentioned in another portion of this volume). The firm is engaged in 
all branches of the law in all the State and Federal Courts of West Vir- 
ginia. Mr. Jackson is a fluent and forceful speaker and is regarded as a 
superior all-round trial lawyer. Although yet a comparatively young man 
in the profession he has made an enviable record as an attorney, and 
greater honors are yet in store for him. 

He has been a member of the West Virginia University Athletic Board 
for several years past, and the present enviable position and tone of uni- 
versity athletics in football and base ball sports are largely due to his 
inspiring planning and leadership. He stands high not only in athletics 
and physical stature and prowess, but in everything that makes up the well 
rounded moral and upright useful citizen. 

He belongs to the ‘‘ Stonewall ’’ Jackson stock. His outstanding per- 
sonal characteristics are persistent energy, exceptional legal acumen -and 
learning, fine integrity, and devoted loyalty to all worthy persons and pur- 
poses. He is married and has one child. Their home is in the rapidly 
developing, thrifty, enterprising City of Clarksburg, the seat of justice of 
Harrison County. 


292 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


George Perry Simpson 


Mr. Simpson, son of Judge Nathan Simpson and Livia Nye, his wife, was 
born at Ruthland, Meigs County, Ohio, on the Josiah Simpson Revolutionary 
land grant, February 12, 1839. He was known throughout Southern Ohio 
as the ‘‘ Young Simpson,’’ as he was the only male representative of his 
generation representing the two Simpson brothers, Josiah and Robert, 
Revolutionary soldiers, who emigrated to Meigs County in 1817 from 
Corinth, Maine, settling upon lands granted them for services in the Revyo- 
lution. Of these soldiers, Robert left daughters and one son, Robert, who 
died childless. Josiah Simpson and wife, Bethia Sweatt, left five daughters 
and son, Josiah who left daughters and one son, Nathan Simpson, born 
in Corinth, Maine, May 3, 1804, who married first Livia Nye, of Athens 
County, Ohio, daughter of George Nye and Lydia Gardner. George Nye 
was the son of Ebenezer Nye, Revolutionary soldier, and wife, Desire 
Sawyer. Lydia Gardner was the daughter of Benoni Gardner, Revolutionary 
soldier, and wife, Silence Grant, both families settling at Marietta, Ohio, 
with the colony from Connecticut. 

The Simpsons descended from Andrew Simpson, a Scotch-Irish Presby- 
terian, who sailed from Colrain, Ireland, to Boston in 1725, thence to Not- 
tingham, New Hampshire. His wife was Sarah Patton. Other ancestors 
of Mr. Simpson were sturdy New Englanders. Thus through thirty-two 
colonial officers he descended, beginning with his earliest ancestor in 
America, William Bassett, 1621; honored early emigrant ancestors being 
those of Hinckley, Lathrop, Porter, Hammond, Palmer, Stanton, Minor, 
Cook, Atwood, Place, Bourne, Prescott, Gardner, Howland, Sampson, Wil- 
liams, Wheeler, Breed, Materson, Larned, Porter, Avery, Park, Dennison, 
Tupper, Burt, Nash, Hallet, Thompson, Greenslade, Borodell, Prentice, Lord, 
Tiden, et al., all sturdy, aggressive, resourceful pioneers. Men whose 
aristocracy was that of achievement as is testified by the pages of American 
History. 

Judge Nathan Simpson was a pupil of the ante-bellum schools. Not until 
after his marriage with Livia Nye, and through her co-operation, was he 
enabled to attend Athens, Ohio, College; then Cincinnati, Ohio, College, 
where March 2, 1843, he received the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He 
became the law partner of Hon. Samuel Vinton, M.C. He served in many 
capacities of honor and trust. He resided during his long professional 
eareer at Pomeroy, Ohio, dying at Middleport, Ohio, April 11, 1875. His 
second wife, Ann Hendry, of Frederick County, Maryland, preceded him 
in 1868. His son, George Perry Simpson, was educated in the schools at 
Ruthland, Ohio; Pomeroy, Ohio, Academy, and at Athens, Ohio, College. 
In 1859 he entered the law office of his father, whose law partner and 
former pupil was the Hon. Charles H. Grosvenor, later for many years a 
Member of Congress. Upon Mr. Simpson’s admission to the Bar this firm 
became Simpson, Grosvenor and Simpson. Judge Simpson’s health failing 


he retired from practice in 1865. 


GEORGE PERRY SIMPSON 


294 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


In April, 1866, our subject migrated from Pomeroy, Ohio, to Mason 
City, West Virginia, where he held the office of Mayor of that (then) 
young town, thence to Point Pleasant in 1872. There he became the law 
partner of Hon. Henry J. Fisher, member of the Virginia Constitutional 
Convention of 1850, the most eminent lawyer in that part of the State. 
In his office were educated some of the most brilliant lawyers West Vir- 
ginia has produced. Mr. Fisher retiring from practice because of advanced 
age, Mr. Simpson associated with him in the practice of the law Hon. 
Hiram R. Howard. This partnership continued until December 14, 1892, 
when occurred the death of Mr. Simpson at his home at Point Pleasant. 

Mr. Simpson, at Gallipolis, Ohio, on May 28, 1861, was united in marriage 
with Phebe Almeda Kennedy, aged seventeen years, daughter of Mr. James 
Kennedy, of Pomeroy, Ohio (he a native of Pennsylvania and wife, Marie 
Marguerite Von Schriltz, a descendant of Louis Victor Von Schriltz, one 
of the French Five Hundred, who founded the City of Gallipolis, Ohio). 
This union resulted in the birth of children, Livia Nye (wife of Judge 
George Poffenbarger), Charles Kennedy, deceased, Mary Margaret (Mrs. 
N. L. Bryan), Dr. John Nathan Simpson and George Melvin Simpson. : 

Mr. Simpson was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Mason County in 1876. 
Those who sought his aid in misfortune and were acquitted because of his 
interest and never failing appeal, were now arraigned before the man who 
must prosecute offenders and no guilty one escaped. During his profes- 
sional career he defended forty-eight men tried for their lives, one of whom 
served a year’s imprisonment. The rest were cleared. Thus Mr. Simpson’s 
record was unsurpassed in the State as the friend of the unfortunate. 
Judge Henry Brannon of the West Virginia Supreme Court, said of him, 
that while his reputation as a leading criminal lawyer was unchallenged, 
no man of the State at the time of his death had won more civil eases 
in the Supreme Court. While his professional record was a proud one his 
assurance of immortality laid in his devotion to his friends, his ideals and 
his unbounded charity. No client was ever turned aside because of his 
inability to pay. 

Mr. Simpson’s political affiliations were those of a Democrat. For many 
years he was the most magnetic man in State, Congressional or nis own 
County Conventions. The alacrity with which he reached a conclusion made 
him invincible at such times. This with a vibrant ringing voice and 
splendid good humor, carried all as a whirlwind before him. He not only 
made the speech nominating Hon. John EH. Kenna, resulting in each of his 
nominations for Congress, but when his election to the United States Senate 
was not assured, Mr. Simpson drove overland through ice and snow (there 
being no railroad connections) from Charleston to Wheeling, returning 
with sufficient petitions to give to Mr. Kenna the election by the West 
Virginia joint assembly of the Legislature, lacking one vote. Without 
rest Mr. Simpson turned his horses’ heads toward Mason County again, and 
returning brought the pressure of petition that induced the casting of the 
vote of the Republican State Senator, Dr. J. M. Hensly for John E. Kenna. 


bo 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 295 


Thus West Virginia was represented in the Upper House of Congress by a 
man whose statue is to-day in the Capitol at Washington among the most 
honored of the Nation. 

Mr. Simpson was a Union man, but when hostilities of the Civil War 
had ceased and the terrible days of reconstruction followed (knowing the 
Southern people because he was reared by a Southern stepmother and loved 
her family as his own), he canvassed the entire State of West Virginia, 
advocating the first submission of the amendment that would enfranchise 
all men of voting age in the State, restoring to the Southerners the right 
of suffrage. While the first submission did not see the amendment carried, 
upon its second submission and final one no man in West Virginia did more 
for its passage than he. He not only canvassed West Virginia, but spoke 
in the States of Virginia, Maryland and Kentucky as well. 

Whether his matchless magnetism and oratory was swaying a jury or a 
convention, or he was the center of conversation, or in his home, he was 
always the same leader. The broadest word in his vocabulary was Friend 
and for him it was all who knew him. He was a member of the A. F. and 
A. M. Lodge at Point Pleasant. His interment was at Point Pleasant 
(Lone Oak) Cemetery, December 18, 1892. A larger concourse followed 
him to his long resting place than any ever before or since known in that 
county. Services were conducted from the Presbyterian Church. 


Hon. Charles William Campbell 


Mr. Campbell is one of the best known and best established attorneys 
in the southern portion of West Virginia, and at present is a member of 
the strong law firm of Campbell, Brown and Davis of Huntington, Cabell 
County, West Virginia. He is a son of Robert D. and Mary Campbell and 
was born in Monroe County, Virginia, September 29, 1856. He received his 
primary education in the public schools of his native county and later he 
attended the State Normal Schoolat Athens, Mercer County; after leaving 
said school in June, 1877, he studied law, passed the required examination 
by three Circuit Judges and was admitted to the Bar at Hamlin, Lincoln 
County, in April, 1881. Shortly thereafter he removed his residence to the 
city of Huntington, where he has since resided and has conducted a very 
successful business, which has developed into large proportions, in all of 
the State and Federal Courts of West Virginia. His practice is general, 
although he has specialized in corporation business, in which he is well 
known as an able and successful attorney. He is studious, attentive to 
his duties, is an omnivorous reader and a constant student of valuable books, 
as well as these pertaining to his profession. His learning is extensive and 
varied. He is a genial companion, is of imposing appearance, is sociable 
and agreeable, and has the implicit confidence of all who come in contact 
with him. His character, in every respect, is above reproach, and his entire 


2:96 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


life has been devoted to raising the standard of the people to higher con- 
ceptions of life and duty. His life is an example of wisdom, learning, 
fidelity, a scrupulous attention to the best traditions of the profession and 
a stainless observance of its best methods. 

In polities he is a Democrat, but in no sense is he a strenuous partisan. 
He has positive convictions, but always leans towards justice and right. 
He has never held but one political office and that was as a member of the 
West Virginia Legislature in 1911-12. Being a superior debater he was 
active in leadership, and was considerate and wise in the measures he 
supported as a law-maker. 

He married Miss Jennie E. Ratliff, August 29, 1888, by whom he had 
five children. For many years he has been a very active and useful member 
of the Presbyterian Church at Huntington. He has also been an active 
leader in the civic development of his home city and delights in its growth 
and prosperity. He is President of the West Virginia National Bank of 
Huntington, and is interested in other business enterprises. He is always 
found on the moral side of every question that comes before the public. 
He is tall and commanding in appearance and in all respects is an ideal 


lawyer and citizen. 


Patrick J. Crogan 


Our subject, the son of James and Rose (Doyle) Crogan, was born in 
Preston County, Virginia, June 17, 1856, and received his education in the 
common schools of his native county, and at a private school taught by- 
Professor Painter, of Roanoke College, Virginia. He is a graduate of no 
college, but nevertheless he is a man of learning, and is also a lawyer of 
erudition and broad experience. He possessed an aspiration for knowledge 
which no circumstances of his youth could suppress, and an ambition to 
achieve a name and a place among men undaunted by any prospect which 
the future could present to his view. While a college education is always 
helpful to a young man starting out in a profession, yet many young men 
of energy and perseverance have demonstrated that it is not absolutely 
essential to one’s success in life. Mr. Crogan possessed a vigor, persever- 
ance and inquisitiveness of mind that permitted nothing to pass from his 
observation without his thorough comprehension of its character; and to 
these trained habits of sensation and perception was added a well regulated 
judgment. While these qualities will assert their superiority in whatever 
sphere they may be exercised, they are of all others the most important 
qualifications for success in the practice of the law. 

‘Mr. Crogan after securing the best preliminary education at his command 
taught in the public schools of his native county for seven years and was 
measurably successful. He, however, had made up his mind in early life 
to become a lawyer, and whilst teaching school he read law under the 
direction of Judge John W. Mason, an able lawyer and an apt teacher. 


PATRICK J. CROGAN 


298 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


In this way he prepared himself for admission as an attorney of the 
Preston County Bar in 1881, where he has since practiced in that and the 
adjoining counties, embracing cases in all the State and Federal Courts. 
As a lawyer he is profound and exact. He is methodical and laborious in 
the preparation of his cases, and is always well armed with precedent and 
authority. He is cautious and deliberate in assuming his ground, and 
surveys with care every inch of the field before he makes an attack or 
plants his lines of defense; hence there is a fixed precision —an engaged 
certainty attending the positions he takes, which no skill of sophistry can 
shake. His judgment is intuitive and his logical powers spontaneous. He 
readily perceives the main points in a case and addresses himself to the 
gist of the controversy. Another feature which adds greatly to Mr. 
Crogan’s success as a lawyer is his uniform placidity and good nature. 
While stern in his convictions and in the positions he assumes, his pro- 
fessional ethics are marked by a cultured suavity which preserves the most 
cordial relations between himself and the other members of the Bar, and 
in this way he often wields, with marked success, the elub of a Hercules 
wreathed with roses, which leaves no scars in a court trial. 

While he is a pronounced Democrat in politics he never sought office, 
preferring to give his entire time and energies to his profession. He has 
thus made himself a high-grade lawyer and one of the leaders of the pro- 
fession in the State; and all the while he has lived a clean and upright life. 
Whilst he has been married for a number of years he nas never been 
blessed with even a single child. He resides in Kingwood, the seat of 
justice of his native county, where he has always lived and has the con- 
fidence and respect of all who know him. 


Judge Warren B. Kittle, LL.B. 


The subject of this sketch was born December 23, 1872, at Belington, 
Barbour County, West Virginia. He is the son of George Monroe Kittle 
and Charity Ellen (Poling) Kittle, and is a descendant of Abraham Kittle, 
Sr., who was born in New Jersey in January, 1731, and who moved to 
Randolph County, Virginia, prior to 1781, where he died September 6, 1816, 
leaving numerous descendants. 

Since 1875 Judge Kittle has resided at Philippi, West Virginia. He was 
educated in the public schools and the West Virginia University, where 
he received the degree of LL.B. in June, 1894. He was married June 30, 
1897, to Zonie Wilson, and they have three children, Virginia, Nellie and 
George. 

Judge Kittle was admitted to the Bar at Philippi, June 25, 1894, and has 
successfully practiced in the State and Federal Courts, participating in 
most of the important cases in his locality, where he is welt and favorably 
known. He was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Barbour County in 1907 


JUDGE WARREN B. KITTLE 


300 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


and served satisfactorily until 1909. He was appointed by Governor Wil- 
liam E. Glasscock Judge of the Nineteenth Judicial Cireuit, May 24, 1911. 
His service being acceptable and satisfactory he was elected Judge of that 
Circuit by the people in 1912, and has served in that responsible position 
until this time. He has always been a hard student, owning one of the 
largest and best equipped law libraries in the State, and having a large and 
profitable clientage. He is the author of ‘‘ The Law of Rule Days ’’ and 
a recent treatise on ‘‘ The Modern Law of Assumpsit,’’ both of them being 
valuable books to the protession, and are in general use by attorneys. 

Judge Kittle is a member of the American Bar Association, the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights 
of Pythias. He is regarded as a just judge, a sound lawyer, a faithful 
husband and father and a man whose life and character are enriched with 
noble qualities of head and heart, and has acquitted himself well in both 
of the high public positions he has thus far held. 


Hon. Charles W. Osenton, LL.B., LL.M. 


Senator Osenton is a native of Kentucky, and is a son of George N. and 
Daisy (Lansdowne) Osenton. He was born at Ashland, Boyd County, Ken- 
tucky, May 9, 1865, received several years instruction in the publie schools 
of Carter County, Kentucky. Shortly after he was born his parents moved 
to Ceredo, Wayne County, West Virginia, where they resided until he was 
seven years old; then moved to Grayson, Carter County, Kentucky, to a 
farm; he lived and worked on a farm and went to the common schools 
until he was seventeen years old, then went to work on a railroad; followed 
railroading from the Construction to the Transportation Departments; 
worked as shipping clerk in a wholesale house in Portsmouth, Ohio, for 
one year and a half. In the fall of 1886 he came to Montgomery, West 
Virginia, and clerked in a hotel; studied law until 1893; was appointed 
Chief of a Division in the Treasury Department; moved to Washington; 
entered the Georgetown Law School; took a four years’ course; graduated 
LL.B. in the year 1895, and later took a post-graduate course in 1896; and 
received the Degree of LL.M. from the same law school. 

He was admitted to the Bar of Berkeley County, West Virginia, the year 
of his graduation from college. He, however, did not enter regularly upon 
active practice until 1897, when he located permanently at Fayetteville, 
Fayette County, West Virginia, opened a law office and entered upon 
what very shortly proved to be a remarkably successful career as a prac- 
ticing attorney. He is gifted in an unusual degree in publie speech, and 
because of that particular gift he, at an early period of his practice, took a 
leading place at the Fayette County Bar in the criminal side of the court, 
and in an unusually short time he had all the criminal practice he could 
attend to and thus assured his success as an attorney. His practice 


HON. CHARLES W. OSENTON 


302 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 
extended into.a dozen or more of the neighboring counties. In April, 1907, 
he formed a partnership with Gen. C. C. Watts, under the firm name of 
Osenton & Watts, in Fayette County; later General Watts retired from the 
firm; he then formed a partnership with Vernon C. Champe, now Judge of 
the Circuit Court of Fayette County, and A. D. Smith, Jr., under the firm 
name of Osenton, Smith & Champe, Mr. Smith and Mr. Champe retired 
from the firm in 1902; formed a partnership with the Hon. W. L. Ashby, of 
Charleston, under the firm name of Osenton & Ashby. In 1905 Mr. Ashby 
retired from the firm; formed a partnership with the late E. M. MePeak, 
which was dissolved by the death of Mr. MePeak in 1909; then formed a 
partnership with A. J. Horan, under the firm name of Osenton & Horan, 
which was dissolved, and Mr. Horan retired from the firm March 1, 1918; 
then formed the present partnership with Hon. W. L. Lee, former Judge 
of the Circuit Court of Fayette County, for the practice of law under the 
firm name of Osenton & Lee. 

Mr. Osenton has always been an active adherent of the Democratic 
party, and being a high grade stump speaker his serviees are in great 
demand in every State and National campaign. His first publie office was 
Chief of a Division in the Treasury Department at Washington from 1893 
to 1897; elected to the State Senate from the Ninth Senatorial District, 
which was then composed of the counties of Fayette, Summers, Monroe, 
Greenbrier and Pocahontas. While holding office as State Senator in 
the year 1900 he was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Fayette County for 
four years, and served until January, 1905; was a delegate to the Demo- 
cratic National Convention at St. Louis from the Third Congressional Dis- 
trict in 1904, and also a delegate at large to the National Democratie Con- 
vention at Denver in 1908. However he never allowed office holding to 
materially interfere with his law business. In all the public positions he 
ever held he acquitted himself with honor, credit and ability. His practice 
for the first few years was mainly confined to the criminal side of the 
courts, but it has extended to all branches of the law in all the State and 
Federal Courts, including the United States Appellate Court of the Fourth 
Judicial Circuit and the Supreme Court of the United States. He is a 
thoroughly equipped lawyer, and handles his cases ably and generally sue- 
cessfully. He rarely loses a case that he ought to win. 

He is a Presbyterian in his religious faith and is a member of the 
Masonic Fraternity. He is married and resides at Fayetteville, the seat 
of justice of Fayette County. 


Judge William L. Lee, LL.B. 


Judge Lee’s parents were Captain W. P. F. and Nannie 8. Lee, of Craw- 
ford, Franklin County, Virginia, where the Judge was born May 10, 1879. 
He was educated in the publie schools of that county, at Hampden-Sidney 
College, Virginia, Emory and Henry College also of Virginia, and took the 
law course at the University of Virginia, graduating with the Degree of 


JUDGE W. L. LEE 


304 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Bachelor of Laws in June, 1902. In July of that year he was admitted to 
the Bar at Rocky Mount, the seat of justice of Franklin County. Imme- 
diately after his admission as an Attorney he formed a partnership with 
L. W. Anderson, which continued until September, 1904, when Mr. Lee 
desiring a better business location, decided to settle at Fayetteville, West 
Virginia, and the firm was accordingly dissolved. About two years after 
locating in West Virginia, Mr. Lee and Mr. R. T. Hubard, Jr., became 
partners in business at Fayetteville, which continued until January 1, 
1913, when Mr. Lee, who had been elected a Circuit Judge, entered upon 
the duties of his office. He served most acceptably as a Cireuit Judge 
from January 1, 1913, to March 1, 1918, when he resigned and became a 
member of the firm of Osenton & Lee at Fayetteville, Attorneys and 
Counsellors at Law, a strong combination of well known and successful 
lawyers. 

While Judge Lee was a member of the Bar his energy, fidelity and 
integrity soon commanded an extensive and lucrative business, while his 
steady and vigorous application gathered a knowledge of law which equipped 
him admirably for the judiciary. He was married April 12, 1916, to Ann 
Montgomery Hawkins, by whom he has one child — William L. Lee, Jr. 
In polities he is a Democrat. He is also a member of the Masonic Fraternity. — 

Judge Lee’s little more than five years’ service as a jurist was both able 
and honorable and satisfactory to the people of all classes. It was marked 
by that degree of rectitude which finds its reward in the commendation of 
all good men, and in the smiles of heaven which mirror themselves upon 
the unruffled surface of a clear conscience. He, however, preferred the 
‘“ saw dust ’’ to the ‘‘ wool sack,’’ and was not entirely happy until he could 
mix in the causes as a partisan, rather than sit as an unbiased umpire from 
the throne of a jurist. In most cases the emoluments of a good practitioner 
are two or three times larger than the salary of a judge, and the labor is 
not as great. We do not mean to say that this influenced Judge Lee to 
return to the practice; and even if it did, we do not condemn him for so 
doing. Anyway, he was an upright and able Judge; but he is also an able 
and honorable counselor. Judge Lee has not yet attained his full stature 
as a lawyer, not yet being quite forty; he still has room to grow, and 
is growing. 

Judge Lee has practiced in all of the State and Federal Courts in West 
Virginia and also in the Federal Cireuit Court of Appeals of the Fourth 
Judicial Cireuit at Richmond, Virginia. He is a well-known, able and 


honorable lawyer and jurist. 


John L. Hechmer 


The subject of this sketch is one of the able and firmly established 
lawyers of the central part of West Virginia, where he has practiced almost 
continuously for more than forty years and has conducted a successful and 
profitable business. He was born at Baltimore, Maryland, in 1855, and is 
the son of Louis and Dorothea Hechmer. He was educated at St. Vincent’s 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 305 


College, Pennsylvania, and at Georgetown University, Washington, D. C., 
where he took its course of law studies. After leaving college he located 
at Grafton in Taylor County, West Virginia, was admitted to the Bar in 
1877 and has since continuously practiced. Whilst he has always affiliated 
with the Republican party, he has never been active in politics, and cannot, 
therefore, be classed as an active partisan. He has never filled any political 
office, except a member of the City Council and Mayor of Grafton, the 
principal city of Taylor County. He has shown himself to possess a deep 
interest in the growth and progress of his county and State. His best 
efforts and energies, however, through a very active life, have been devoted 
to the practice of his profession. He is thoroughly grounded in the law, is 
a most industrious worker, is a careful pleader and tries his cases ably. 
His learning is varied and extensive. His force of will, self-reliance and 
courage are more than common. Into whatever duty he enters he throws his 
strong personality and he never fails when he deserves to succeed. He has 
a strong, logical mind and presents his cases clearly and forcefully, and 
generally successfully. 

He was twice married and has fourteen children. He is a Roman Catholic 
in his religious convictions and is a member of the world-wide fraternity of 
Knights of Columbus. 

Mr. Hechmer is a man of even temperament, sound judgment, never 
thrusts his opinions on others, is rather inclined to be reticent and reserved, 
is talked to more than he talks to others, and when he offers an opinion on 
any subject it is well worth careful consideration. When he prepares a 
law suit he rests it upon well-settled legal principles; does not allow 
himself to be flurried or frightened, nor can he be driven from what he 
believes to be sound, legal principles and conclusions. He knows the law 
and tenaciously adheres to it. He has achieved his high standing at the 
Bar of the State by strict application to his calling and constant watchful- 
ness of the interests of his large clientage. 


Judge Ephraim F. Morgan 


Our subject, the son of Marcus and Jennie Wymer Morgan, was born in 
Marion County, West Virginia, January 16, 1869, and received his educa- 
tion in the public schools of his native county, and at the Fairmont State 
Normal School. After nine years’ experience teaching in the public schools 
of Marion County he entered the Law Department of the West Virginia 
University and graduated therefrom in the class of 1897. Immediately 
thereafter he was admitted to the Fairmont Bar and entered upon the 
vigorous practice of his profession. Being a young man of sound body 
and rugged intellect, and being known as a man of integrity and thorough 
reliability, he was not long in gathering about him a profitable clientele. 
His practice was of a general character in all of the State and Federal 
Courts. He very soon made a reputation or being more than an average 


306 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


trial lawyer. He is faithful to his clients, is a man of marked personal 
appearance, is of large stature, strong features, and possesses energy and 
force. He is also careful, clear-headed, systematic and thorough in his 
work, and is agreeable, kindly disposed and social in his makeup. Above 
all, his personal character has always been above reproach. It is not any 
wonder, therefore, that his life, thus far, has been a continuous success. 

He began his official life as attorney for the city of Fairmont, in which 
office he rendered satisfactory service. He also served as President of the 
Board of Education of Palatine Independent School District. From 1907 
to 1913, inclusive, he was Judge of the Intermediate Court of Marion 
County. In this capacity his public services was of a most satisfactory 
character, as he proved to be an able, just and upright Judge. At the 
expiration of this term of six years’ service he returned to the practice with 
renewed energy and zeal, and his business was rapidly expanding when he 
was again called into the service by appointment from Governor H. D. 
Hatfield to a four years’ term, from June 1, 1915, to May 31, 1919, as a 
member of the West Virginia Public Service Commission, a highly respon- 
sible and lucrative position. He has filled the same for nearly four years 
with credit and ability and to the satisfaction of all the parties concerned. 

This Commission is a court of the people. The technical rules of pleading 
and procedure do not obtain. Any citizen feeling himself aggrieved by 
any act of a public service corporation, or of its failure to act when it is 
its duty so to do, can without cost to himself, make complaint to the 
Commission by simply writing a letter and stating the facts. The Com- 
mission holds daily sessions, except Saturdays and Sundays. It is in this 
line of work that the Commission is of the greatest benefit to the people. 
It is composed of three members —all of them lawyers, and their duties 
are semi-judicial. It is their business to prevent corporations from imposing 
excessive and unjust charges for services rendered or failure to render such 
service as the law requires. The Commission is bi-partisan, and is at present 
composed of two Republicans and one Democrat, Judge Morgan Ete one 
of the majority members. 

Judge Morgan was a volunteer soldier in the Spanish-American War, 
serving until its close. He is married and has one child living and one 
dead. His home is in the city of Fairmont, but he is residing temporarily 
at Charleston, the Capital of the State. 


Hon. Ulysses Grant Young, LL.B. 


Among the able, prominent West Virginia lawyers of the central portion 
of the State is the subject of this sketch. He is a native of Harrison 
County, West Virginia, where he was born January 22, 1865. He attended 
the public schools of his native county and then entered the National 
Normal University at Lebanon, Ohio, from which he graduated with the 
degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1888. Having chosen Buckhannon, in Upshur 
County, as his future residence, immediately after his graduation from 


HON. U. G. YOUNG 


308 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


college, he was received as a member of the Upshur County Bar and began 
life as a lawyer in that little city of great possibilities and of unusual 
promise, where he has since resided and has by industry and the strictest 
integrity won a high standing in his profession. Rarely is there found in 
the ranks of any calling one so symmetrical in mind and character, one so 
sound in judgment, so unerring in moral perception, so faithful to every 
duty and so loyal to the right, as is this man Young. He is, therefore, a 
broad, thorough, conscientious lawyer, who maintains a large general prac- 
tice in all the State and Federal Courts of West Virginia and the United 
States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fourth Judicial Cireuit. 

He has always adhered to the principles of the Republican party, and was 
its candidate for a seat in the State Senate in the campaign of 1894, was 
elected and served four years with ability, credit and honor. Later he was 
his party’s nominee for Judge of the Circuit Court, but on account of some 
factional disturbance in the ranks of his circuit he was defeated. For a 
number of years past, he has given his undivided time to the practice of 
his profession, which steadily increases in volume and income. 

Senator Young was a member of the Commission appointed to adjust the 
debt resulting from the Civil War, between Virginia and West Virginia, and 
served ably and efficiently for several years thereon. He is a useful mem- 
ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and for nearly a score of years he 
has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the West Virginia Wesleyan 
College at Buckhannon, and is also a member of its Executive Committee 
and attorney for the corporation. He is a Freemason and a Knight of 
Pythias. . 

He married Miss Lillie Cecelia Pifer, by whom he has four children — 
two girls and two boys. They live in an elegant mansion on Kanawha 
street in the city of Buckhannon. 


Hon. Riley A. Blessing, LL.B. 


Senator Blessing, son of Calvin Thomas and Sarah Josephine (Board) 
Blessing, was born near Letart, Mason County, West Virginia, December 11, 
1875, and received his education in the public schools of Mason County, at 
the Spencer Normal, at Spencer in Roane County, West Virginia, and at the 
Strayers Business College, Washington, D. C. Later he entered the Law 
Department of George Washington University, Washington, D. C., and grad- 
uated in the class of 1906 with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. Prior to 
his entering upon his law studies he taught in the public schools in Mason 
County from 1894 to 1901 on a No. 1 certificate, and made an enviable 
record as a teacher. He says that during this period he consumed no small 
quantity of midnight oil, not only on his work as a teacher, but in a sys- 
tematic course of reading of valuable books in order to store his mind with 
knowledge, which he knew he must possess to get on in the world. From 
1901 to 1911 he was an employee of the United States Senate, and while 


HON. RILEY A. BLESSING 


310 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


thus engaged he took the complete law course at George Washington Uni- 
versity at the National Capital, and graduated as a Bachelor of Laws. 
After successfully passing the rigid examination required by the Washington 
Bar Association he was admitted as an attorney of the District Bar in 
1906. He formed a partnership with David A. Butz and practiced with him 
in the city of Washington from 1906 to 1911 under the firm name of Butz 
and Blessing. Believing that there were better opportunities for a well- 
equipped young lawyer in West Virginia than any other place in the entire 
country, he returned to Point Pleasant, the seat of justice of his native 
county, formed a partnership with F. G. Musgrave, early in January, 1913, 
opened a law office and has made that his permanent abiding place. 
Mr. Musgrave is the present Prosecuting Attorney of Mason County, and 
the firm is carrying on a profitable and growing business. 

Mr. Blessing is a Republican in politics and has been rather active since 
the campaign of 1896, having served as a member of the Mason County 
Executive Committee that year. He was nominated and elected to the 
State Senate in 1912 and was one of the leading members of that distin- 
guished body for the full term of four years. He is a fluent and forceful 
public speaker, sees a point quickly, and readily took rank as a floor leader. 
He was also active in committee work and was at the forefront in shaping 
the legislation of that period. He ranked high as a debater, and his record 
was clean and honorable. His entire public career has been able and 
exemplary and his private life is without spot or blemish. He is methodical 
in the preparation of his cases, and is always well armed with precedent 
and authority. He is fluent and forceful in speech, and stands high as an 
advocate. In social life he is generous and kind, courteous and affable in 
his demeanor to all classes on all oceasions and at all times. 

Senator Blessing was appointed by the State Tax Commissioner July 1, 
1917, to the position of Taxation Assistant for West Virginia, a very 
important legal office, where he is now serving with great acceptability. 

He was united in marriage with Miss May Van Matre. He is a com- 
municant of the Baptist Church, and is invariably found on the moral side 
of all important matters that come before him. 


Captain Samuel Brashear Avis, LL.B. 


The subject of this brief biography is a native of Harrisonburg, Rocking- 
ham County, Virginia, where he was born February 19, 1872. His father 
was Braxton Davenport Avis and his mother was Hattie (Wilson) Avis. 
The father departed this life some three years ago at Washington, D. C. The 
mother still resides in that city. His father entered the military service of 
the Southern Confederacy, as a drummer boy, at the age of eleven years 
and remained until the close of the war. He was, perhaps, the youngest 
soldier in either of the armies during the late Civil War, and for that reason 
he was the subject of many flattering and deserved eulogies. 


HON. 8S. B. AVIS 


312 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Our subject was educated in the public schools of his native county and 
at the well-known Military Academy at Staunton, Virginia. After the 
completion of an academic course of studies he matriculated as a student 
of law at Washington and Lee University of Lexington, Virginia, from 
which high grade institution he graduated a Bachelor of Laws in 1893. 
Shortly thereafter he opened a law office in Charleston, West Virginia, 
where he has since resided and where he has gathered about him a large 
and profitable clientage. He is now known and recognized as one of the 
very able lawyers of the southern portion of West Virginia, if not, indeed, 
in the entire State. He was twelve years Prosecuting Attorney of Kanawha 
County, which long experience enabled him to completely master every 
branch of criminal practice and to establish a reputation as, perhaps, among 
the foremost criminal lawyers in the entire State. His sincere, frank and 
aggressive disposition, coupled with unsurpassed industry and courage of 
convictions, render him a dangerous antagonist in any sort of a law-suit. 
He frequently devotes entire nights in order to go to the bottom of an 
important case. This fact, more than any other, has been the principal 
secret of his success. He has made good the old proverb that, in any 
calling, ‘‘ Work Wins.’’ 

Since arriving at manhood, Mr. Avis has shown a strong liking for 
polities. He is a popular, and has always been an ardent, Republican, as 
was his father before him. He is an able and convincing ‘‘stump speaker’’ 
and an excellent organizer. He was employed for four years as the law 
clerk in the office of the United States District Attorney, and for a short 
time was Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of 
West Virginia; was elected in 1890 and twice re-elected Prosecuting Attor- 
ney of Kanawha County, which embraced a period of twelve consecutive 
years. In this important position he made an almost unparalleled record 
as a public prosecutor. In 1898 he served as Captain of Company A, 
Second West Virginia Volunteers in the War with Spain, and remained 
therein until the close of the war. He was elected a member of the Sixty- 
third Congress and made the reputation of an intelligent, attentive and able 
Representative. He was defeated for a second term and settled down to 
hard work in his law office, where much ‘‘midnight oil’’ is steadily con- 
sumed. For the past four years he has been employed as counsel and legal 
advisor of the West Virginia Publie Service Commission, a position which 
requires both time and legal knowledge to properly fill, in which his 
services have been eminently satisfactory. 

In December, 1899, Captain Avis was united in marriage with Miss 
Florence Miriam Atkinson, a daughter of Ex-Governor Atkinson, by whom 
he had two children —a boy and girl. They live in a neatly appointed 
home in the city of Charleston and make up a happy and affectionate 
household. 

Captain Avis is a thoroughly grounded lawyer, and is a man of high 
integrity. He handles a large volume of civil business, and practices in all 
of the State and United States Courts within the State and in the United 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 313 


States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Judicial Circuit, and also in the 
District Court of the Western District of Virginia. For a number of years 
his reputation as a lawyer was confined principally to the criminal side of 
the court, but for the past six or eight years he has devoted his time and 
energies almost exclusively to civil business, which is much more profitable 
in every respect. Of later years he has specialized in land laws and land- 
title litigations. In short, he is well equipped as an all-round lawyer and 
ranks among the able members of the profession in the entire State. 


Hon. William H. H. Flick 


Mr. Flick is a native of the Western Reserve of Ohio, where he was born 
in 1841. He was educated in the public schools and at Hiram College, near 
Cleveland. In July, 1861, he volunteered as a private soldier in the Federal 
Army and was dangerously wounded in the left shoulder at the battle of 
Shiloh, Mississippi, but continued in the service until the fall of 1862, 
when he was honorably discharged on account of said wound. He returned 
to his home and taught school for three years. Having read law in the 
meantime, he was licensed to practice in September, 1865. In March, 1866, 
he moved to West Virginia, and began to practice law at Moorefield, the 
seat of justice of Hardy County, and in March, 1867, he changed his resi- 
dence to Franklin, Pendleton County. He had a strong legal mind, was an 
able public speaker, and soon became recognized as a forceful and successful 
lawyer. He was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Pendleton County in 1867, 
also of the adjoining county of Grant in 1872, and he was re-elected to 
the same office in Pendleton County in 1873-4. In 1874 he resigned the 
office of Prosecuting Attorney and located at Martinsburg, Berkeley County, 
where he spent the remainder of his life. 

In the fall of 1868 he entered the State Legislature from Pendleton and 
Grant Counties, and was re-elected in 1869. He took an active part in 
legislation. He was the author of what was known as ‘‘The Flick Amend- 
ment’’ to the State Constitution, which removed all restrictions from all 
persons who had engaged in the Rebellion of 1861-5, which gave him a State- 
wide reputation. In 1881 he was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Berkeley 
County, which he resigned in 1882 to accept the higher position of United 
States District Attorney for West Virginia. By this time he had become an 
unusually able lawyer, and one of the strongest and most successful prose- 
eutors in the Commonwealth. We put it mildly when we state that he had 
but few equals, anywhere, as a trial lawyer. He was a very large man, and 
when he became aroused his reserve force was practically irresistible, 
because he apparently would break down all opposition and often sweep 
things before him. 

In 1876 he was the Republican candidate for a seat on the Supreme Court 
of Appeals of the State, but was defeated along with his entire party ticket. 


314 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


In 1886 and again in 1888 he was the Republican candidate for Congress 
in the Second Congressional District, and both times he was defeated by a 
very small majority. He was-known as a man of unflinching loyalty to 
truth, justice and principle. He was conscientious and generous to a fault. 
He died of apoplexy at his home in Martinsburg, when but little more than 
fifty years of age. 


Hon. Wells Goodykoontz, LL.B. 


Among the able lawyers of southern West Virginia is the subject of this 
sketch. He is a native of Pulaski County, Virginia, where he was born 
June 3, 1872. He was educated in the public schools of his native county 
and at Oxford Academy, Floyd County, Virginia. He received his legal 
education at Washington and Lee University, at Lexington, Virginia. 
Shortly after his graduation therefrom he came to West Virginia and 
located at Williamson, Mingo County, and entered upon the practice of the 
profession for which he had been thoroughly prepared. Being naturally 
of studious habits, he was not long in making himself known to the people 
as a coming man in the legal profession. He became the junior member of 
the firm of Sheppard and Goodykoontz, which continued until Mr. Sheppard 
became a member of the State Board of Control at the State Capital. In 
the meantime the firm grew to be one of the strongest and best known in 
the Norfolk and Western Railroad region of West Virginia, and had a large 
and profitable clientage. 

For a number of years Mr. Goodykoontz took but little interest in poli- 
ties, but in 1910 he was placed in nomination by the Republicans of Mingo 
County for a seat in the lower branch of the West Virginia Legislature 
and was elected thereto by the people. In that body he applied his indus- 
trious habits and made himself one of the most attentive and valuable 
members of the Legislature, serving on a number of important committees 
and being Chairman of the Finance Committee. At the expiration of two 
years’ service the people elected him a member of the State Senate for a 
four years’ term, of which body he was elected President, which made him 
ex officio Lieutenant-Governor of the Commonwealth. 

Senator Goodykoontz is not only a man of high grade natural ability, 
but he is regarded among those who know him well as a lawyer of unusual 
erudition and an honor to the profession. For many years he has been 
active in the affairs of the West Virginia Bar Association and one of its 
most useful members. At its annual meeting in July, 1917, he was elected 
its President. He participates in all of its important discussions and has 
read papers on a number of valuable and interesting subjects, which have 
been published in the Year Book of its proceedings. 


HON. WELLS GOODYKOONTZ 


316 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


He is happily married, and, with his wife and her mother, lives in a 
splendid home in the city of Williamson, where they are well and favorably 
known and highly respected. 

In the State-wide primary election held in June, 1918, he was the nominee 
of the Republican party in the Fifth District for a seat in the Congress of 
the United States, and was elected by a large majority. 


Judge Andrew S. Alexander, LL.B. 


Andrew Sterrett Alexander, son of William A. and Leonora C. Alexan- 
der, was born in Putnam County, West Virginia, August 7, 1867, and was 
educated in the schools of his native county. On arriving at manhood he 
became a student at the West Virginia University, from which he was 
graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He was admitted as a 
member of the Kanawha County Bar in 1890, where he practiced until the 
close of 1891. He then located at Winfield, Putnam County, the next year, 
and was the junior member of the firm of Gunn and Alexander. Captain 
W. R. Gunn was an old and able practitioner, and the firm promptly com- 
manded a large and profitable clientage. Captain Gunn died in 1904, and 
Lewis G. Barnhart became the new partner, under the firm name of Alexan- 
aer and Barnhart, which partnership continued until 1914. Their practice 
embraced both the State and Federal Courts, and particularly the Supreme 
Court of Appeals of West Virginia, and their business grew to large 
proportions. 

In 1892 Mr. Alexander, who had always been a Democrat in politics, was 
elected to the office of Prosecuting Attorney of Putnam County, which 
county was strongly Republican. He proved to be so efficient and fair 
in the enforcement of the laws during his four-year term that the people, - 
without regard to polities, re-elected him in 1896. It is only just for us to 
state that it is questionable whether Putnam County ever had a more honor- 
able or abler Prosecuting Attorney. After the close of his second four- 
year term as Prosecuting Attorney of Putnam County, our subject moved 
his residence to Charleston, where greater opportunities were open to able 
and energetic lawyers. 

After locating in Charleston, Mr. Alexander associated Robert E. McCabe 
with him in the practice, under the firm name of Alexander and McCabe. 
Both of them being competent and able young men, who attended strictly 
to business, their practice soon grew to large proportions. In 1907 Mr. Alex- 
ander was chosen Solicitor of the city of Charleston, in which he served 
efficiently and satisfactorily for two years, and again in 1913 he was 
elected for another term of two years. He is of a modest, retiring disposi- 
tion, and is so kind and courteous in his make-up that people are drawn 
to him. These are the principal reasons why the people always rally to his 
support when he is a candidate for public favor. : 3 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 317 


In the campaign of 1916 our subject was the nominee of the Democratic 
party for Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Kanawha County, and 
notwithstanding the fact that the county has, for years, given a large 
Republican majority to its candidates, he was elected by a decisive majority, 
thus revealing again the fact that the people, as a rule, when it comes to 
the test, will stand by a man whom they believe to be square and upright 
in all of his acts. In this high judicial office Judge Alexander has measured 
up to the high expectations of the public. 

Judge Alexander is a public spirited citizen, is an active worker in the 
Presbyterian Church, of which he has for years been a Ruling Elder. He 
is also a stanch member and supporter of the Young Men’s Christian Asso- 
ciation, and is always found on the moral side of every question that arises 
in the city, county or State. He is also an active member of the Masonic 
Fraternity, in which he ranks high and well. He has a wife and three 
children, and lives happily, as well as hopefully, in the city of Charleston, 
where he has a large following of true and abiding friends and followers. 


Staige Davis, LL.B. 


This well-established attorney is a native of Albemarle County, Virginia, 
a son of the Reverend Dabney C. T. and Mary B. Davis, who was born in 
1877, and was educated in the preparatory schools and at the University of 
Virginia, from which he graduated a Bachelor of Laws in the class of 1903. 
He was shortly thereafter admitted as an attorney in the State and Federal 
Courts of Virginia. In 1905 he and his brother, Dabney C. T. Davis, Jr., 
who is sketched on another page of this volume, located in Charleston, first 
under the firm name of Watts, Davis and Davis, and later as Davis, Davis 
and Hall, both of which proved profitable, and their present business is 
steadily increasing. 

Mr. Davis is a man of more than ordinary natural gifts. His talents are 
brilliant and his energy indomitable, which have enabled him to advance 
to a high place in the profession, although he is yet comparatively a young 
man. He possesses an analytical mind and is versatile in expression. His 
perception is acute and vigilant, quick to seize upon the gist of a proposi- 
tion and searching in its penetration. His judgment is balanced by caution 
in determining the real merits of a legal question, which makes him an 
unusually successful trial lawyer. His arguments are linked together with 
sound reason, and his briefs are well prepared and well argued. Supported 
by an ample store of precedent, strong powers of analogy and parity of 
reason, his positions, even amid the lurid merits of a doubtful case, are 
always well fortified and exercise a cogent bearing upon the convictions of 
a court and jury. 

Mr. Davis’ personal qualities are such as adorn the best minds and the 
best characters. He is a man of the highest sense of honor, stern and 


318 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


inflexible in the performance of duty, yet amiable and kind in his dis- 
position, punctilious in gentlemanly amenities and professional ethics, and 
is highly esteemed by the Bar and the people. He is tall of stature, is 
naturally kind and courteous and has the confidence of the people who know 
him. In arguing a cause, he impresses his hearers, and especially the 
Courts, that he knows what he is discussing. 

In politics he is a staunch Democrat, but never aspired to any public 
office. He is distinctly a lawyer, and devotes his entire time to the study 
and work of his profession. Whilst his personal appearance is much in his 
favor, it is rather strange that he has never joined the army of Benedicts. 

In his Church relations he is a Protestant Episcopalian. 

His firm is engaged in a general practice in all the State and Federal 
Courts of West Virginia. 


Judge Haymond Maxwell, B.A., LL.B. % 


Judge Haymond Maxwell, son of the late Judge Edwin Maxwell, was 
born in Clarksburg, West Virginia, October 24, 1879; received his primary 
education in the public schools of his native city; later attended the West 
Virginia University at Morgantown, and graduated therefrom in 1900 with 
the classical degree of Bachelor of Arts; later he was graduated in the 
Law Department of the same University in the class of 1901, as Bachelor 
of Laws. He was admitted to membership of the Clarksburg Bar, the year 
of his graduation, and entered into partnership with his father as an active 
practitioner of the law. His father had a large practice, and young Max- 
well entered into a profitable clientele from the day his ‘‘shingle’’ was 
suspended over the front door of his law office. He was a clean, well- 
educated, sincere young attorney, and possessed the confidence and respect 
of the entire Clarksburg community, which, coupled with industrious habits 
and honorable methods of living, he was not long in forging to the front 
as a lawyer of both merit and ability. He is a Republican in politics, but 
has studiously avoided politics as a business, and preferred the law as a 
life-work; yet, yielding to entreaties of his friends, he was elected a memher 
of the West Virginia Legislature of 1905, where he rendered efficient and 
valuable service as a maker of laws. 

His father died in February, 1903, which left to him exclusively the 
control of the large volume of business of the firm of Maxwell and 
Maxwell, which he handled with ability, skill and judgment, until he was 
nominated and elected Judge of the Circuit Court composed of the large 
and populous counties of Harrison and Lewis, in 1914, where he is still 
serving, his term of office being for eight years. As a lawyer he had an 
active practice. He is well grounded in the fundamental principles of the 
law and was faithful to his clients, was eminently fair with his associates, 
and was thorough and accurate in the preparation of his cases. His practice 
extended into all the Federal and State Courts of West Virginia. Upright- 
ness of character, firmness of purpose and unswerving integrity are his 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 319 


chief characteristics. As a Judge he is not impulsive, but is calm, delib- 
erate and just. When once settled in his opinions and convictions he is 
decidedly fearless and frank in their expression. He is easily approached, 
and combines courtesy and affability with dignity and firmness. 

Judge Maxwell is an ardent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
and is a forward-moving citizen of the community in which he resides. 

He was united in marriage with Miss Carrie Maxwell, a daughter of 
Mr. Porter Maxwell, of Harrison County, by whom he has two children. 
His residence is within gunshot distance of the spot where he was born. 
He has absolutely the confidence and respect of every citizen of Clarksburg 
who has the pleasure of his acquaintance. 


Judge Jake Fisher, LL.B. 


Judge Fisher is a native of Flatwoods, Braxton County, West Virginia, 
where he was born May 26, 1871, and was there reared. He received the 
best education afforded by the public schools of that section. Having 
decided to become a lawyer, he early began the study of legal textbooks 
and later matriculated as a student in the National Normal University at 
Lebanon, Ohio, where he completed a thorough academic course of study. 
He then entered the Law Department of Washington and Lee University 
at Lexington, Virginia, where he took the prescribed course for students who 
contemplated entering the profession of the law. He possessed a bright 
mind, was an industrious student, and when he completed his textbook 
studies he had rounded out a very thorough education; far better than the 
average young man who contemplated entering the legal fraternity as a 
life work. He returned to his native county, was admitted to membership 
of the Braxton County Bar, ‘‘hung out his shingle’’ in Sutton, and in a 
very short time began to take in fees at a rate that was surprising to him 
as a young limb of the law. He was and is by nature kind and courteous 
and has the tact to draw men to him. He has legions of friends and has 
a broad acquaintanceship among the people. He has a wonderful gift in 
making friends and holding them. Being thoroughly grounded in the law, 
and being an industrious worker, and always acting fair and honorable, 
he was not long in building up a safe and profitable clientage. He is 
gifted in public speech, and is far above the average advocate. He is an 
excellent trial lawyer. 

From boyhood he has been an adherent of the Democratic party, but 
never was a rigid partisan. The writer never knew him to act other than 
in the open in any of his political undertakings. Like most young lawyers, 
he took a lively interest in political campaigns, and generally got elected 
to any office he went after. He kept close to the people and almost invari- 
ably won out in all of his undertakings. He represented Braxton County 
two terms in the lower branch of the State Legislature, and was elected to 


320 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


the State Senate in 1904, serving four years. Being an able public speaker 
he was one of the floor leaders in both and was an active member of the 
Judiciary and several other important committees, and was liberal and just 
in all his legislative acts. 

In the campaign of 1912 he was nominated and elected a Circuit Judge 
over several strong competitors, and has given eminent satisfaction to the 
people. Being well versed in the law, square, upright, industrious, pains- 
taking and just, he has measured up to the high standard expected of him 
by the people when they elected him to that exalted position. 

He is married, has an interesting family and resides at Sutton, the seat 
of justice of Braxton County, where he has spent practically his entire 
life. He is a member of the Masonic Fraternity and is personally known 
and respected by the people of the central portion of the State. 


General Thomas S. Riley 


General Riley was born in Marshall County, West Virginia. His early 
life was spent on a farm; attended and taught publie schools. His sub- 
sequent education was at Fairmont State Normal School, which he attended 
in 1875, and the West Liberty Normal School where he was a student in 
1876 and 1877, graduating in the latter year. In July, 1877, he entered the 
law office of J. Dallas Ewing, Esquire, at Wheeling, where he read law, 
and was admitted to practice October 26, 1878.. On April 1, 1879, he formed 
a partnership with Mr. Ewing, his instructor, and has been in active 
practice from the date of his admission to the Bar. November 21, 1891, 
Judge Thayer Melvin having resigned as Judge of the First Judicial Dis- 
trict became a member of the firm, under the name of Ewing, Melyin & 
Riley. This firm continued until 1894 when he withdrew, and Mr. J. W. 
Ewing took his place in the firm. He was elected Chairman of the Demo- 
cratic State Committee in 1887 and served as State Chairman for five 
years. He was appointed by Governor A. B. Fleming as a member of the 
Board of Regents of the State Normal Schools and served in that capacity 
for three years. He was elected City Solicitor of the City of Wheeling 
in February, 1891, and served two years. At the November election of 
1892 he was elected to the office of Attorney-General of the State and 
served acceptably in that office for four years. In 1906 he was a candidate 
for Congress, being defeated, but succeeded in decreasing materially the 
normal majority of the opposition. 

He was married November 11, 1891, to Miss Minnie B. Breinig, daughter 
of Michael and Elizabeth Breinig. They have three children, Thomas S., 
James B. and Kobert J. He is a member of the Carroll Club, the Elks 
Club, the Fort Henry Club and the Country Club. The family are com- 
municants of the Catholic Church and attend St. Joseph’s Cathedral at 
Wheeling. 


GENERAL T. S. RILEY 


322 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


General Riley is a close student, a hard worker and has been remarkably 
successful in the practice of his profession. His standing is high at the 
Wheeling Bar, and also throughout the entire State, and his private and 
public character are above reproach. He is an active member of the State 
Bar Association, and is a regular attendant upon its annual sessions. 


Hon. William Edgar Haymond 


Our subject was born at Falls Mills on the Little Kanawha River, 
Braxton County, Virginia, February 17, 1855. His parents were EHugenius 
and Mary J. Haymond, well-known residents of that locality. He attended 
the local schools of his neighborhood, and later became an earnest and 
faithful student of legal text books until he was twenty-four years of age, 
when, in 1879, he passed a creditable examination, and was admitted as a 
member of the Braxton County Bar at Sutton, where he has since resided, 
and where, by faithful application to his office duties, he has made the 
reputation of being one of the leading lawyers of Central West Virginia. 
He- has given a large part of his time to a careful study of the land ‘aws 
of the State, and has established a high reputation in that branch of the 
profession. He has never exhibited a taste or desire to intermeddle with 
politics, and has never held but one public office—that of Prosecuting 
Attorney of Braxton County, to which he was elected in 1885, and was 
re-elected in 1889. He proved to be a strong and successful prosecutor, 
showing neither fear of, nor favor to, any violator of the law. His eight 
years as attorney for the people marked him as a man of ability and of 
undaunted courage and integrity. His practice has extended to all State 
and Federal Courts, and embraces a large variety of civil causes. Wherever 
he is known he is regarded as a wise and safe counselor and a lawyer of 
erudition and of broad experience. 

He is married and has two daughters. His home is one of the hand- 
somest in the Town of Sutton, standing on the south bank of Blk River, 
one of the cleanest and most delightful streams of limpid water that can 
be found this side of Paradise itself. 

His law firm (Haymond & Fox) is well and favorably known throughout 
Central West Virginia. His accompanying photograph shows him to be a 
man of medium stature, of firmness, and yet of modest and social dispo- 
sition. Mr. Haymond is a member of one of the best known and most- 
extensive families in the entire State of West Virginia, who live in Harri- 
son and the near-by counties, and are universa’ly recognized as honorable 


and prosperous citizens of the Commonwealth. 


HON. WILLIAM E. HAYMOND 


324 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Hon. Edward Arnold Brannon, A.B., LL.B. 


Our subject, son of Judge Henry Brannon, West Virginia’s most eminent 
jurist, was born in the City of Weston, Lewis County, West Virginia, April 
4, 1870, and was educated at the West Virginia Univers.ty, Princeton 
University, and the Law Departments of Maryland Law School, and Wash- 
ington and Lee University, receiving their highest in cursu diplomas. But 
few young men have been favored with the thorough and liberal education 
that he received before entering upon a professional career. Possessing a 
strong and vigorous intellect, it is, therefore, not a question of wonderment 
that he was recognized as a thoroughly equipped lawyer from the time he 
was admitted to the Lewis County Bar in 1894. However, he has steadily, 
and we may add, rapidly grown, with practice and experience, until he has 
attained an enviable and gratifying rank as an attorney in all the courts 
of the State. His practice is in all the branches of the law in all the 
courts of the State and National Governments, including the Supreme 
Court of the United States. 

Although he is a scion of a distinguished ancestry, he stands four-square 
upon his own attainments and his own merits. As we have already stated 
his father was an eminent jurist, having served eight years as a Cireuit 
Court Judge and twenty-four years as a Justice of the Supreme Court of 
Appeals of West Virginia; his uncle, Judge John Brannon, was one of the 
State’s distinguished lawyers and jurists, his cousin, the Hon. William W. 
Brannon, a distinguished attorney of the City of Weston; and on his 
mother’s side he is descended from the distinguished Jackson fami y, which 
furnished to the State many able citizens and lawyers, notably Governor 
Jacob B. Jackson, Judge James Monroe Jackson and Judge John Jay 
Jackson, who was for forty-two years a Federal Judge and known as the 
““ Tron Judge.’’ 

Mr. Brannon’s personal character is without a blemish, and his record 
as a man and lawyer is of the highest possible character. He is also a man 
of marked personal appearance. He is of good stature, strong features, 
and in short, his whole aspect is full of force. Being a thoroughly equipped 
and highly educated lawyer, in the trial of a cause, he offers no apologies 
and fears no antagonist. In politics he is a Democrat. He, however, in 
no sense can be classed as an office-seeker. For a number of years he fil ed 
the position of Solicitor of the City of Weston, and filled it ably and 
satisfactorily. Much important litigation took place during his term, 
known as the street litigation cases, twenty-two in number, which went 
through the State Courts, the United States Cireuit Court of Appeals, and 
two of them (the cases of James A. Tierney and Sallie E. Tierney against 
the Town of Weston) were finally appealed to the Supreme Court of the 
United States and were resolved in favor of the town. Mr. Brannon was 
the so’e attorney for the town in these long drawn out legal contests. The 
only political office he ever held was as member of the West Virginia Legis- 


HON. EDWARD A. BRANNON 


326 Bench and Bar of West Virguua 


lature from Lewis County. In that deliberative body he rendered intelli- 
gent and valuable service. Being a man of solid popularity he was 
vigorously urged by his friends for the office of Attorney-General of the 
State a few years ago, and since that time he was strongly pressed for a 
seat in the Congress of the United States, but he was not a seeker after 
political favors, and ‘ent but little, if any, favor to the requests of his 
urgent friends, always preferring the law to politics. He was never a 
seeker after personal honors or self-aggrandizement; his tastes are con- 
sistent with his conservative mind in all things. His grasp of public 
questions, however, is firm and deliberative. Being a logical and forceful 
public speaker, a scholar and a thoroughly equipped lawyer, he wou d be 
an efficient and valued public official in the service of the public in any 
position worthy of a man of his capacity and high ideals. 

Mr. Brannon married Miss Irma Cowey in 1909. They have three 
children and are residents of the city where Mr. Brannon was born and 
reared, and have the confidence and respect of all their fellow citizens. 


Abraham Burlew 


Our subject is a son of James and Sophia Burlew, and was born near 
South Amboy, New Jersey, in 1840, and was liberally educated at the Od 
Shocara Academy and Charlottesville Seminary, New York. He was a law 
student in the office of Slosson, Hutchins & Platt, successors of Shell, 
Slosson & Hutchins, No. 40 Wall Street, New York City; passed the rigid 
examination required by the New York statute, and was admitted as a 
member of the Bar of that city in 1864. After spending about a year 
practicing in the New York Courts he was employed by the firm with 
whom he received his legal training, Scudder & Carter, of 66 Wall Street, 
New York, and was sent by them to West Virginia to look after the large 
land and other interests of John Holsted in West Virginia. Accordingly 
he came to West Virginia in 1865, opened a law office in Charleston, was 
admitted as a member of the Bar, and has constantly practiced his pro- 
fession in this city since that time. He is now one of the oldest members 
of the Charleston Bar. The greater part of his professional life has been 
devoted to the settlement of the titles of lands owned by John Ho’sted 
in this State, which were in great confusion. Many law suits were brought 
by him for this purpose in the West Virginia Courts, several of which 
were carried to the Supreme Court of the United States for final adjust- 
ment. The titles were ultimately settled in Holsted’s favor. At his death 
in 1899 Mr. Burlew was appointed trustee of his large estate in West 
Virginia by the Circuit Court of Fayette County, this State, and he sub- 
sequently settled the estate, which involved upwards of $300,000. 

Mr. Burlew is a retiring, modest, unpretentious man; is well grounded 
in all the fundamental principles of the law in all of its branches, but has 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 327 


specialized for many years in the settlement of controverted land titles, 
ejectment suits, etc. He, however, is an all-round, well-read lawyer, who 
prepares his cases carefully, and is always ready for trial, because he pre- 
pares his cases thoughtfully and is, therefore, never taken by surprise. 
During the fifty odd years he has been a member of the West Virginia 
Bar he has borne an upright life, is thoroughly trustworthy, and has the 
confidence and respect of all the people with whom he has come in contact. 

He is a Republican in politics; has never held an office of any sort, 
because he never desired one. He preferred the quietude of his law office. 
He has always possessed a lucrative practice; has settled a number of 
large estates, always to the satisfaction of all the parties. 

He has never married, and has large property interests in and about 
Charleston. He is a member of no church, but says ‘‘ he is a Methodist 
in belief.’” He is a member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. 
He has recently retired from active practice. He never was rugged in 
health, but is quite active and vigorous for one of his advanced years. 
He, however, is still able for most any sort of work. He is an admirer of 
fine horses, and devotes considerab‘e time horseback riding. 


General James William St. Clair 


General St. Clair was born at what was then known as Big Lick, now 
Roanoke, Virginia, January 26, 1853, and completed his education in the 
College of Poughkeepsie, New York, after which he took up the study of 
law in the office of Judge D. S. Johnston, of Princeton, West Virginia. 

He removed to Fayetteville in 1875, and in the following vear established 
the first newspaper published in Fayette County, the Fayette Enterprise, 
which is still published as the Fayette Journal. Shortly after coming to 
Fayette County he formed a law partnership with the late Governor E. 
Willis Wilson, which continued until the viection of the latter to the Gov- 
ernorship in 1884. He then formed a partnership with Hon. Joseph H. 
Gaines, which continued until 1888, when the final partnership of St. Clair, 
Walker & Summerfield was formed. 

He always took an active part in politics, and was frequently selected 
by his party as their candidate for positions of honor, and serving as 
Prosecuting Attorney of Fayette County from 1881 to 1885, and as a 
member of the State Senate from 1891 to 1895. 

He also served as West Virginia’s Commissioner of the Wor'd’s Fair at 
Chicago, where he was made one of the Board of Managers in control of 
the management of the Exposition, being associated in that work with 
Messrs. Geo. K. Massie, of New York, and L. O. Higginbotham and Charles 
Schwab, of Chicago. 

General St. Clair was a Democrat in politics, and since coming to the 
age of maturity never missed attending a National convention of the party 


328 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


until the last one, which the condition of his health at that time precluded. 
He was a personal friend of William Jennings Bryan, whom he deeply 
admired, though not at all times wholly in accord with his doctrines. 

He enjoyed an extensive and lucrative law practice, being retained by 
a number of the leading coal firms in that section, and was engaged in the 
trial of an important case in Charleston when stricken with his final illness. 
A man of powerful physique, unbounded energy, and apparently iron con- 
stitution, he withstood labors under which the majority of men would have 
utterly collapsed, until about five years prior to his death, when an affection 
of the heart became apparent, and after that time his health had been 
gradually declining until the final seizure came. 

General St. Clair was twice married, his first wife being Miss Ella 
Mahood, of Pearisburg, Virginia, to whom he was united October 14, 1889, 
the offspring of the union being two sons, Will and Meador, both of whom 
were students at Culver Institute, and one daughter, Mrs. A. T. Wheeler, 
of Cincinnati. His second wife, who survives him, and to whom he was 
married on September 9, 1899, was Miss Cynthia McLaughlin, of New York. 

Among the most notable suits in which he has appeared as counsel was 
the noted Goff-F*’eming contest over the Governorship of this State, in 
which he represented Mr. Fleming, the successful contestant. 

Mr. St. Clair received his title of General from Governor Fleming, who 
gave him a commission as General on his personal staff. 

General St. Clair was unquestionably an eminent lawyer. He had a 
great mind, and very few men had a wider grasp of legal principles. He 
specialized in corporation matters and handled his cases masterfuly. He 
was also able and strong on Constitutional questions. He could see a point 
clearly himself, and had the gift of making others see it also. He unques- 
tionably possessed a marvelously discriminating mind. He was a great 
trial lawyer, and was widely employed in important causes. He was se’f- 
reliant, self-asserting and absolutely fearless. All who knew him well 
must admit that he possessed elements of greatness. 

He died all too soon at his home in Fayetteville, November 4, 1900. 


- Judge William Smith O’Brien, LL.B. 


Judge O’Brien, son of Emmet J. and Martha A. (Hall) O’Brien, was 
born in Barbour County, West Virginia, January 8, 1862. Shortly after 
the close of the Rebellion his parents moved to Lewis County, where he 
grew to manhood. He was educated in the common and graded schools 
and took the law course at the West Virginia University, from which he 
graduated in the class of 1891. He taught school for several years before 
and after completing his law studies, and then was admitted as a member 
of the Cireuit Court Bar at Weston, Lewis County. In 1892 he located 
permanently at Buckhannon, the county seat of Upshur County, where he 
opened a law office and began a successful career as a lawyer. In 1896 he 


JUDGE WILLIAM 8. O’BRIEN 


330 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


married Miss Emma, the e dest daughter of A. Perry White, of Lewis 
County, by whom he has four children. 

Judge O’Brien is naturally studious, and having read law in the office 
of Judge John Brannon, an eminent lawyer of West Virginia, for a con- 
siderable time before he entered the West Virginia University, he is well 
up in the technique of the profession; consequently the law course he 
completed in that institution thoroughly equipped him for a successful 
career at the Bar, and he made good from the start. He is a Democrat, 
and has a slight hankering after politics, although in no sense could he be 
ec assed as an office-seeker. He was nominated by his party at different 
times for membership in the House of Delegates and State Senate, but as 
Upshur County was overwhelmingly Republican, he was defeated with his 
colleagues on the same ticket; but it is only just for us to state that he 
invariably ran materially ahead of his ticket. He was later on nominated 
a second time for membership in the State Senate, but was compelled to 
decline on account of his rapidly growing law practice. 

Judge O’Brien’s history as a man and a lawyer, through his entire career, 
is a record of man‘iness, complete in every detail. His practice extended 
into all the branches of the profession, and he dignified it by exhibiting 
the highest types of integrity, fidelity, learning and wisdom. As an eyi- 
dence of his personal popularity, he was nominated by the Democratic 
party of the Twelfth Judicial Circuit as a candidate for Cireuit Judge in 
1912, and although the Circuit contained a large Republican majority he was 
elected, with many votes to spare, and has served faithfully and well. He 
is an honest man and a just judge. He gained strength rapidly by experi- 
ence, and has the confidence of al the parties who have transacted business 
in his courts. 

He has disposed of many important law and chancery suits during his 
term of office, but we will, however, mention but one, namely: what are 
known as ‘‘ The West Virginia Bribery Cases,’’ wherein five members of 
the Legislature were indicted, tried before him and convicted for bartering 
their votes for money in the election of a United States Senator. The trial 
was lengthy and tedious, and was conducted on both sides by some of the 
ablest lawyers in the State. Out of this great trial Judge O’Brien emerged 
and was universally commended for fairness and integrity. The cases went 
up to the Supreme Court of Appeals and Judge O’Brien’s rulings were 
sustained. 


Hon. Frank C. Reynolds 


Mr. Reynolds, son of Judge F. M. Reynolds, was born at Keyser, West 
Virginia, January 25, 1868. He attended the pubic schools of Keyser 
until he finished the courses, and then, at the age of seventeen years, he 
attended the University of West Virginia at Morgantown, from which 
institution he graduated in the year 1890. He was admitted to the Bar 
of West Virginia ‘at Keyser, Mineral County, April 5, 1891; began the 


HON. F. C. REYNOLDS 


332 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


practice of law at his home town and practiced in most of the counties in 
that section of West Virginia, and a few in the States of Maryland and 
Pennsylvania. He was elected to the office of Prosecuting Attorney of 
Mineral County in the year 1891, and held that office for a term of four 
years, and was re-elected for another term of four years, making two 
- terms of four years each. He was a thorough lawyer, a strong advocate 
and an able prosecutor. 

He married Jessie R. Knight, November 7, 1894. Three children were 
born to them—all boys. The eldest, F. Marion Reynolds, Jr., is now in 
the United States Navy; Knight Reynolds, now at the University of West 
Virginia at Morgantown, is in the Students Army Training Camp, and 
Lester Reynolds is attending High School at Keyser. 

He was a Master Mason, and belonged also to the Knights of Pythias, 
and was a member of the Phi Kappa Psi College Fraternity. He was a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Keyser, West Virginia; was a 
Republican in politics; took a very active part in polities and was Chair- 
man for many years of the Republican County Committee of Mineral 
County. 

He was general counsel for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company 
for many years; attorney for the Central Railroad of New Jersey; Sec- 
retary of the McCullough Coal & Coke Company, and Secretary of the 
Blackwater & Potomac Railroad Company as well as their counsel; attor- 
ney for the Watson-Loy Coal Company; attorney for the Piedmont Grocery 
Company; attorney for the First National Bank of Keyser, West Virginia; 
attorney for the Keyser Electric Light Company; attorney for the Rich- 
ardson Furniture Company, as well as many other important interests in 
that section. He was also attorney for the Union Tanning Company, and 
attorney for the Frederick Piano Company. Since the European war he 
was a member of the Legal Advisory Board of Mineral County, and gave 
his unlimited service and advice to the draftees and their families. He 
was attorney for the Abrams Creek Coal & Coke Company; also attorney 
for the Brydon Coal Company. He was attorney for so many large cor- 
porations that it is difficult to recall all of them. Whilst he was an able 
and successful all-round lawyer, he made a specialty of corporation prac- 
tice, which explains why he was employed as counsel for such a large 
number of corporations. He was a superior trial lawyer, and ranked among 
the able stump speakers of the entire State. He departed this life in the 
midst of his usefulness during the summer of 1918. 


Judge Lewis N. Tavenner 


The subject of this sketch ranks among the brilliant, successful lawyers 
of West Virginia. He is tall of stature, commanding in appearance, social 
and agreeable by nature, and possesses unusual popularity wherever he is 
personally known, and but few, if any, citizens of the State are better 


Bench and Bar of West Virgina 333 


known or more highly esteemed. He is a son of Isaac Tavenner and was 
born in E izabeth, the seat of justice of Wirt County, Virginia, February 
17, 1855. His early educational training was in the common schools, but 
after he reached early manhood he attended Nash’s Academy at Parkers- 
burg, Wood County, taking the entire course in higher mathematics, 
English, literature, the sciences and the Latin language. This was a noted 
Academy in its day. Its Principal — Professor John C. Nash — was highly 
educated, and like ‘‘ Arnold of Rugby ’’ was a master of the art of teach- 
ing. Many of our prominent West Virginia people were trained by him. 
Under his tutelage young Tavenner received the equivalent or more than an 
average college education. He studied the necessary legal text books at 
home, passed a creditable examination, and was admitted to the Wood 
County Bar at Parkersburg in April, 1876, where he has since resided, and 
has become known as one of its able and well established attorneys and 
citizens. 

He has always been a Democrat in his political associations, but in no 
respect can he be classed a politician. His leading purpose was to become 
a lawyer, and he confined his untiring energies in that direction. He is a 
hard worker, and gives his best efforts to his profession. He stands four- 
square as a man and lawyer and has always lived an upright life, and has 
the confidence of the people who know him. All the public offices he ever 
held were strictly in the line of his profession. His first official position 
was attorney for the city of Parkersburg. He was a commissioner of the 
United States District Court for twelve years, and was Cireuit Judge from 
April 25, 1896, to December 31, 1904. His strongest point as a practitioner 
is his fluent and forceful method of presenting a case to a court and jury. 
He has but few equals as a public speaker. His language is chaste, his 
utterances are rapid and pointed, and his arguments are convincing. In 
short, it is only fair to class him as a natural orator of unusual gifts. As 
a Judge his mind was bright and his analytical faculties were of a high 
order. He had an innate love of justice and his perception was keen and 
incisive. His leading desire was to be fair and just in all of his decisions. 
It can be truly said of him that he was a just and upright Judge. After 
his eight years’ service on the Bench he returned to the Bar, and is con- 
ducting a profitable business at Parkersburg, where he has spent the greater 
part of his useful life. 

Judge Tavenner and Miss Carrie Kraft were married October 27, 1886, 
and they have one son and one daughter. They are members of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church, South. The Judge is a member of all the different 
branches of Freemasonry. When comparative'y a young man he filled the 
highest office in the Fraternity, that of Grand Master of the State. He is 
one of the most distinguished and best known Masons in West Virginia, 
and is highly esteemed by his fraters. 


(Ju) 
ou) 
He 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Hon. William G. Barnhart, LL.B. 


My. Barnhart, son of Lewis and Isabel Barnhart, was born at Buffalo, 
Putnam County, West Virginia, April 5, 1880; received a thorough primary 
training in the public schools of his native county; later he entered the 
West Virginia University and graduated from the Law Department in the 
class of 1902, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He was admitted 
to the Putnam County Bar the year of his graduation, and practiced his 
profession at Winfield, the county seat, with a marked degree of success, 
until April 1, 1907. Desiring a wider field in which to operate, and one 
which offered greater opportunities for an ambitious young lawyer, he 
moved his residence to Charleston, the Capital of the State, where he has 
since resided and is maintaining a profitable clientele His practice, both 
in Putnam and Kanawha counties, covered all branches of the profession 
in State and Federal Courts. 

Mr. Barnhart is a Democrat in his political affiliations, and, although 
his native county was strongly Republican, he was elected as a Democrat 
to the State Legislature, and served with efficiency and distinction during 
the session of 1903 and ’04. In 1913 he was appointed United States 
District Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia and served 
the full term of four years. It is conceded that he was an able and 
unusua'ly successful prosecutor of all violators of the laws of the United 
States. He is an excellent trial lawyer. He prepares his cases carefully, 
and understands the art of applying facts to the law, and vice versa. He 
has a melodious voice and is attractive in public speech. As a campaigner 
in politics his rank is high. He is difficult to surpass in his ability to 
present a case to a jury, and he examines and cross-examines witnesses 
ingeniously. He understands legal principles thoroughly and cannot be 
easily camouflaged. He is thoughtful and self-poised, and is dangerous as 
an opponent in the trial of any sort of a cause. Since his retirement as 
United States Attorney he is conducting a profitable business in Charleston, 
where he has resided for many years and is a well-known personage in the 
community. ¥ 

Mr. Barnhart married Miss Frankie Ellen Goodwin, January 1, 1908, by 
whom he has one child, Ruth Frances, born November 3, 1910. He is a 
member of the Knights of Pythias, the Elks, the Woodmen, the L. O. O. M. 
and the National Geographic Society. He has never united with any 


religious denomination. 


Samuel Tilden Spears, LL.B. 


Our subject, son of Aaron N. and Rhodea E. Spears, was born in Wetzel 
County, West Virginia, October 7, 1877. During his younger years he 
attended the public schools; later he entered the State Normal School at 
Fairmont, Marion County, and graduated in the class of 1897; still later he 
became a student in the Law Department of the West Virginia University, 


i i et ede i OE ae 


SAMUEL T. SPEARS 


336 Bench and Bar of West Virgina 


and graduated therefrom in 1903 as a Bachelor of Laws. Having decided 
upon the city of Elkins as one of the most promising locations for a young 
lawyer, at least, in the central part of West Virginia, he cast his lot there 
in the fall of 1903, hung out a sign with these words, painted in large -etters 
thereon, ‘‘S. T. Spears, Attorney at Law ’’; and that conspicuous ‘‘ Shingle ’’ 
is hanging there yet, and is likely there to iemain, it is to be hoped, for 
forty or fifty years to come. Samuel Tilden, the younger, and the city have 
developed in about the same proportion, and are still growing, and we hope 
and expect that they will keep on moving, hand in hand, until they attain 
full stature. ‘‘ Elkins is some city,’’ and it cannot be gainsaid that Brother 
Spears is ‘‘ some -awyer ’’ also. Nature endowed him with a strong and 
rugged intellect, and he has made good use of it. He early learned that 
appleation, promptness and fidelity are the qualities which insure pro- 
fessional success, and with these he brought to the Bar an honorable 
ambition and a zealous purpose in every sphere in which his professional 
services were employed. He possesses indefatigable industry, sound judg- 
ment, and is moral and upright in his conduct and dealings. For probity 
and fair deaiing no man in his community stands above him. He is also a 
safe and sound lawyer, and ranks high in his profession. His practice is of 
a general character and extends into all the State and Federal Courts. 

In politics Mr. Spears is a Democrat. He served for a number of years 
as a member of the Board of Managers of the State Reform School for 
Boys, and showed a deep interest in Reformatory work and did much to 
improve conditions in that institution. He was for six years solicitor of 
the City of Elkins, and all the while was an attentive and efficient officer. 
He is Chairman of the Local Draft Board, and has rendered patriotic service 
to his State and country in the European War. He is a prominent Free- 
mason and is an active member of the Grand Lodge of the State. He is 
also an influential member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in 1916 
was elected as a Deegate to the General Conference of that powerful 
religious organization of the United States and of the world. 

Mr. Spears and Miss Stella Gail Ford were married September 21, 1900, 
and have one child — Marjorie Gail Ford, who was born at Fairmont, West 
Virginia, August 16, 1901. 

Mr. Spears ranks among the splendid citizens of West Virginia, and has 
the confidence and respect of all the people who know him. 


Col. William Willey Arnett 


In the front rank of criminal lawyers at the Wheeling Bar, probably 
unequaled in his knowledge of criminal law, certainly unexcelled in its 
presentation to the jury, stands the subject of this sketch. This is mani- 
fested by his successful defense in some of the most noted causa celebre 
in West Virginia and at the St. Louis Bar. Not so much as an orator, not 
because of rhetorical finish or grandiloquent sentences, but in his deliberate, 
methodical presentation of the statutes, his singular power of explaining 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 337 


away damaging testimony, or handling the testifier, his convincing manner 
of arraying facts and law points as a general masses his heavy and light 
soldiery for a victorious charge — herein was his strength and the secret 
of his almost universal success. 

Col. W. W. Arnett was the son of Ulysses N. and Elizabeth (nee Cunning- 
ham) Arnett, both natives of that part of Monongalia, which later became 
Marion, County, Virginia. In the latter county he was born October 23, 
1843; prepared at Fairmont Academy for Allegheny College at Meadville, 
Pennsylvania, whence he graduated in 1860. He studied law, before and 
after his college term, under A. F. Haymond, Ex-Judge of the West Vir- 
ginia Supreme Bench, and was admitted to practice in 1860 at Fairmont, 
but closed his office to enlist as a private in Company A, Thirty-first Vir- 
ginia Infantry; directly after his enlistment he was appointed by Governor 
Leteher Lieutenant-Colonel of a battalion, which was afterwards merged 
into the Twenty-fifth Virginia. He resigned his commission, returned to 
the ranks of his old company and was soon elected its Captain, and so served 
until 1863, when he was elected Colonel of the Twentieth Virginia Cavalry, 
the command of which he continued until the close of the war. Twice 
during the war he was elected by the ‘‘refugees and camp voters’’ to 
represent Marion County in the Virginia Legislature: 

In 1865, because of the ‘‘Test Oath’’ in West Virginia, he resumed prac- 
tice in Berryville, Clarke County, Virginia; in 1868 he was nominated for 
the State Senate from that district, but declined, and was immediately 
after nominated and elected to the Legislature of Virginia from that county. 
In 1872 he removed to St. Louis, Missouri, and soon established himself in 
a@ remunerative and important practice, his reputation as a successful 
eriminal lawyer having preceded him. One of his first eases there, the 
defense and acquittal of J. H. Fore on a charge of murder, was the subject 
of complimentary comment in public journals throughout the United States, 
the St. Louis papers describing his effort as ‘‘the most masterly in that 
Court since Blennerhassett’s day.’’ Like encomiums were passed upon his 
successful defense of Madame Julia Fortmeyer in the celebrated abortion 
ease, and others. 

In 1875 he returned to his native State and located at Wheeling, at once 
becoming one of the prominent attorneys of West Virginia. In the injune- 
tion ease, Wheeling vs. Charleston, against the removal of the State 
archives from the latter to the former city, he succeeded before the Supreme 
Court in having the Capital removed to Wheeling. He was also employed 
to defend State Auditor E. L. Bennett and Treasurer John S. Burdett in 
their celebrated impeachment case. He was engaged in practice at Wheel- 
ing, as also in different counties throughout the State and before the Supreme 
Court of West Virginia until his death. After his resumption of practice in 
West Virginia he was retained on the defense or prosecution of almost every 
important criminal case before the courts in his section. It is universally 
conceded that Colonel Arnett was one of the greatest natural lawyers that 
West Virginia ever produced. 


338 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Hon. Absalom M. Cunningham 


The subject of this brief sketch, the son of Solomon and Mary J. (Lantz) 
Cunningham, of Upshur County, West Virginia, was born at Buckhannon, 
the seat of justice of that historic county, February 23, 1864, when the new 
State of West Virginia was not yet a ‘‘yearling.’’ For several years he 
attended the public schools of Buckhannon, and, being ambitious, and 
desiring to secure a thorough education, he, in early life, determined to 
prepare himself as a teacher, and when not yet sixteen years of age he 
secured a teacher’s certificate and taught his first term of school. This 
profession he followed faithfully for twelve consecutive years. In the 
meantime, having decided to become a lawyer, he began the systematic 
study of legal textbooks, while he was teaching, and kept it up diligently. 
He entered one of the State Normal institutions, where he mastered a 
number of high academic studies. He, however, stuck to his law books with 
heroic tenacity in the meanwhile. Having acquired the necessary technical 
legal training, he passed a creditable examination before three Cireuit Court 
Judges, and was by them granted a license to practice in the West Virginia 
Courts, and was admitted to the Bar in November, 1892, and since then 
has continuously practiced. His first location was in Tucker County, where 
he remained sixteen years and had a large clientele. He then, in 1909, 
moved his office to Elkins, Randolph County, where opportunities were much 
more advantageous, and is a resident of that thrifty city at this time. Hig 
practice is of a general character, and includes all State and Federal 
Courts and extends into the surrounding counties. 

In his political affiliations Mr. Cunningham is an active member of the 
Republican party. He filled ably the office of Prosecuting Attorney of 
Tucker County from 1893 to 1897 and was a member of the State Legis- 
lature in 1903 and 1904. In both of these offices he acquitted himself with 
credit and honor. He is a superior public speaker, and, therefore, is an 
unusually successful trial lawyer; as a legislator he ranked high as a floor 
manager and debater, and was also useful in committee work. He is a man 
of large stature, of splendid address and of commanding personal appear- 
ance. He is naturally sociable and companionable, and attracts people to 
him. He is an orator of force and power, and will command attention in 
the discussion of any important subject. He is also clean and trustworthy, 
and is well grounded in legal principles. 

Mr. Cunningham has been twice married. His first wife was Miss Maude 
Anvil, whom he married October 15, 1887, and by whom he had four children. 
His second wife was Miss Grace Isabel Keith, whom he married June 6, 
1905, and by whom he had two children. His home life has ever been of 
the most desirable character. 

While the most of Mr. Cunningham’s energies are devoted to his pro- 
fession, he has found time to take an interest in business ventures. He 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 339 


promoted and organized the Miners and Mechanics Bank at Thomas in 
Tucker County, an institution which pays large dividends. He takes a 
live-_y interest in every movement for the development of the internal affairs 
of his section of the State. His religious affiliations are with the Presby- 
terian denomination, to which his family has adhered for many generations. 
Mr. Cunningham is a determined man in character, wise in counsel, emi- 
nently practical and possesses the ability to concentrate his mind on one 
subject to the exclusion of all others, which largely accounts for his success 


in life. 


Hon. John Hanson Good, LL.B. 


Mr. Good came on both sides of his family from early settlers in Ohio 
County, Virginia. His paterna! grandfather, John Good, came to Virginia 
from Washington County, Maryland, about the beginning of the nineteenth 
century. Benoni 8S. Good, the father of the subject of this sketch, was 
born in Ohio County, Virginia, in 1816, and lived his entire life upon the 
farm on which he was born. He was a man of great industry and was 
noted for his hospitality and integrity. J. H. Good’s mother was a 
MeMechen, daughter of the pioneer Benjamin MecMechen. and one of a 
numerous family of children. His descendants are plentiful in most every 
portion of the ‘‘ Pan-Handle,’’ and are reliable and enterprising citizens. 

John Hanson Good was born in Ohio County, Virginia, in 1844. After 
attending the common schools for a few years he matriculated at the West 
Virginia University at Morgantown, where he remained about a year, and 
then entered Bethany College, Brooke County, from which he graduated in 
1868. He afterwards attended law school at Louisvi_le, Kentucky, and after 
finishing his studies, opened a law office in Wheeling. After practicing a 
short time he was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Ohio County. In this 
position he acquitted himself with the greatest credit, successfully defend- 
ing and maintaining the peace and dignity of the State against all comers. 
He was not long in taking a leading rank as a jury lawyer. Indeed, he 
was for years regarded by far the most eloquent advocate at the Ohio 
County Bar. His career as an attorney was a great success. 

In early manhood Mr. Good became interested in polities. His voice was 
heard in every campaign. He was both attractive and powerful on the 
hustings. West Virginia contained but few, if any, better platform speakers 
than J. H. Good. He was always an ardent Democrat, and was for years 
the idol of his party in Ohio County. He was elected a Delegate to the 
West Virginia Legislature, and in 1882 was the nominee of his party for a 
seat in the Congress of the United States. He made a brilliant campaign, 
but was defeated by General Nathan Goff. Exposures during that campaign 
led to ailments that would not yield to medical treatment, and the young 
and gifted lawyer was swept down within a few months after the c!ose of 
the canvass. He had a large following of friends who were drawn close 


340 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


about him by his charming manners and genial nature. No West Virginian 
had the promise of a more successful future; but it was decreed that he 
should surrender his trust even before his sun had reached its noon. 

Mr. Good was of medium stature, compactly built, of fair complexion, 
light hair, charming in conversation, and would be regarded everywhere as 
handsome. His brilliant attainments, coupled with his neat appearance, 
rendered him in any presence a commanding man. 


Hon. Frank Lively, LL.B. 


Our subject, a son of Co‘onel Wilson and Elizabeth (Gwinn) Lively, was 
born in Monroe County, West Virginia, November 18, 1864, and was reared 
on a farm. He graduated from the Concord, Mercer County, State Normal 
School, at Athens, West Virginia, in the class of 1882. He promptly there- 
after matriculated as a law student at the West Virginia University, and 
graduated therefrom in 1885, with the degree of LL.B. The following 
year he was admitted as a member of the Summers County Bar to be an 
attorney in the Cireuit Courts of the State. Later on he was admitted to 
practice in the United States Courts and the Supreme Court of Appeals of 
West Virginia. In all of these tribunals he has had an extensive business 
and broad experience. 

In 1900 he was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Summers County and 
proved to be an efficient prosecutor. Being a lover of ‘‘ the rod and gun,’’ 
and being desirous of the strict enforcement of the laws to protect the wild 
game and the fish of the Mountain State, he resigned the office of Prose- 
cuting Attorney to accept, as he viewed it, the more important position 
of State Game and Fish Warden of West Virginia. In entering upon the 
duties of this office he devoted his entire time and his best energies to the 
protection of the game and fish of the State from total destruction by 
their thoughtless and ruthless persecutors and destroyers in almost every 
section of West Virginia. Under his administration those important laws 
were rigidly enforced and firmly established. 

In April, 1905, he resigned as Game and Fish Warden to accept the office 
of Assistant Attorney-General of the State, which he filled with great 
acceptability until 1906, when he resigned to become Pardon Attorney 
during the administration of Governor Dawson. In 1909 he was again 
appointed to the office of Assistant Attorney-General, which position he 
is still holding. In this office he has made an enviable record as a lawyer 
of a strong, clear, safe and sane judicial mind. He is quick of perception, 
deliberate in judgment, and rarely, if ever, fails to catch on to the main 
points involved in a ease. No lawyer in West Virginia is more familiar 
with all of the most important statutes of the State than he, and the 
natural result is his services are of almost untold value to the people at 
large in the office he is now ably filling. 


HON. 


FRANK LIVELY 


342 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Mr. Lively has represented the State in the trial of a long list of 
important cases in the Federal, the Circuit and Supreme Courts of West 
Virginia, and has established a reputation as an able, successful and foree- 
ful trial lawyer. He is married, resides in Charleston, and has a wife and 
six children, and is a member of the Masonic Order. He is of tall, slender, 
sinewy build, and in his younger years was an athlete of considerable 
renown. He is yet, and perhaps will ever remain, a lover of the gun and 
rod, as well as an untiring student of the law. Mr. Lively has always 
been an earnest advocate of Republican principles and policies. 


Hon. Elam Dowden Talbott 


Mr. Talbott is one of the strong, well known attorneys of the central 
counties of West Virginia. He is the son of William W. and Sarah Simms 
Talbott. He was born on a farm near Philippi in Barbour County, Vir- 
ginia, November 8, 1857, and received his elementary education in the 
common schools of his neighborhood. Later he attended the Law Depart- 
ment of the West Virginia University, where he received a thorough train- 
ing in the technique of the law, and was admitted to practice in the Cireuit 
Court of Barbour County in 1882, where he remained for several years, 
and moved his residence to Elkins, in the adjoining County of Randolph, 
where he now resides, and is conducting a large and profitable legal busi- 
ness. As a lawyer he is profound and exact. He is methodical and labo- 
rious in the preparation of his cases, and is always well armed with 
precedent and authority. He is cautious in assuming his ground before 
entering upon the trial of a cause. His judgment is sound. He rarely 
enters upon the lofty strains of rhetoric and never in impassioned chal- 
lenges of applause. But while his oratory is usually devoid of ornamenta- 
tion, it is forceful, logical and laden with argument. He readily sees the 
main points in his case and addresses himself to the gist of the contro- 
versy. His life has been a commentary upon the value of amiability and 
gentlemanly traits of character, and impresses the lesson that a mild temper, 
a uniform decorum and moderation are virtues compatible with the greatest 
attainable suecess at the Bar. He is always calm, patient and practical, 
and has made the dictates of duty the rule of his conduct in publie and 
private life, and is, therefore, highly regarded as a lawyer and citizen. 

Mr. Ta bott has always had a warm side for polities, although in no 
sense an office-seeker. The only political office he ever held was a member 
of the Legislature in 1913, wherein he proved able and efficient. He was 
sent as a Delegate to the National Democratic Convention in 1896, beinz 
an adherent of that political party. 

He married Miss Lertie Lee Bosworth, June 15, 1886, and has five chil- 
dren. He is a member of the Baptist Church, also the Masonic and Odd 
Fellows Fraternities, and is in every respect an exemplary citizen. 


HON. E. D. TALBOT 


344 Bench and Bar of West Virguame 


Robert Emmet McCabe, A.B. 


The subject of this sketch is the junior member of the strong and suc- 
cessful law firm of Blue & McCabe in the capital city of the State. He 
was born at Leesburg, Loudon County, Virginia, July 24, 1883, and is the 
son of Judge James B. McCabe, a well-known lawyer of the Mother Com- 
monwealth. His preliminary education was obtained at the Episcopal 
High School, Alexandria, Virginia. Subsequently he graduated from Ran- 
dolph-Macon College, Ashland, Virginia, and in 1904 graduated from the 
Law Department of the University of Virginia at Charlottesville. He, 
therefore, started out in the profession unusually well equipped, educa- 
tionally speaking, to attain success in his high calling, and he is steadily 
marching toward the front. 

He was admitted to the Leesburg, Virginia, Bar in 1904, where he prac- 
ticed for a short time. From there he went to Norfolk, Virginia, but 
greater opportunities seemed to be opened to a young man in the legal pro- 
fession in the new State of West Virginia, so he ‘‘ packed his belongings,’’ 
came to Charleston on the Kanawha, ‘‘ hung out his shingle,’’ and is now 
one of the best known young attorneys of that thriving city. He soon 
found out that he made no mistake in selecting a permanent abode, and 
is both happy and prosperous in his new home in a State where coal, oil, 
gas and timber abound more abundantly, perhaps, than in any other State 
of the Great Republic. A young, industrious, educated lawyer, in order 
to secure business, makes no mistake to locate where business is. 

Mr. McCabe is a Democrat in politics, is married and has one child, and 
being of a genial, social, generous disposition is living happily among a 
host of warm, personal friends he has made in the capital of the expanding 
‘“ Mountain State,’’ with greater prospects of success ahead worthy of a 
lawyer much his superior in years and experience. His future is 
permanently secured. 


Judge James French Strother 


Judge Strother was born in Pearisburg, Giles County, Virginia, and is. 
the son of Judge Philip Williams Strother and Nannie (Pendleton) Strother. 
He attended the common schools, the Pearisburg Academy, the Virginia 
Agricultural and Mechanical College in 1887 to 1890, inclusive, and ended 
with a thorough law course at the University of Virginia from 1893 to 
1894, inclusive, graduating with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He was 
admitted to the Bar in Virginia in 1894 and located at Welch, West Vir- 
ginia, in 1895, where he has since resided, and has successfully practiced 
in the State and Federal Courts of West Virginia and Virginia. 

He has filled the following offices most successfully and satisfactorily: 
Deputy Collector and Cashier of the United States Internal Revenue Office, 
Sixth District of Virginia, from 1890 to 1893; United States Commissioner 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 345 


from 1897 to 1901; Judge of the Criminal Court of McDowell County since 
January 1, 1905, when he was appointed by Governor A. B. White Judge of 
that Court, to succeed Judge L. L. Chambers, who had been elected Circuit 
Judge, and resigned; elected in 1906 without opposition; nominated without 
opposition and re-elected in 1912, and unanimously renominated after hav- 
ing declined to stand for re-election August 15, 1918, to succeed himself 
for the term beginning January 1, 1919, and has no opposition in the 
present campaign. This shows what kind of a Judge he is and has been 
for the past dozen or more years. He is a thorough lawyer and is peerless 
and fearless as a Judge. Naturally he is kind and generous and has many 
admiring friends. No man in MeDowell County is more popular with the 
people. 

Judge Strother is a member of McDowell Lodge No. 112, F. and A. M., 
Welch, West Virginia; Lynchburg Chapter No. 10, Lynchburg, Virginia; 
Ivanhoe Commandery No. 10, Bramwell, West Virginia, and Beni Kedem 
Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, Charleston. 

In politics Judge Strother is a Republican, and his residence is at Welch, 
the seat of justice of McDowell County. 


John Campbell Palmer, M.S., Ph.D. 


Very few lawyers of his age in Northern West Virginia have had a 
wider and more varied experience in general practice than the subject of 
this sketch. His father was an erudite attorney, and his son has had many 
advantages in the way of fitting himself for the Bar. He was born in 
Brooke County, West Virginia, September 30, 1868. His primary education 
was received in the Wellsburg public schools, having graduated from the 
High School of that city in 1886; he graduated from Washington and 
Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, in 1890, receiving the degree of Bachelor 
of Science. In 1893 he received the degree of Master of Science from the 
same college. He later entered Wooster (Ohio) University, taking up the 
study of philosophy and psychology, and was awarded the degree of Doctor 
of Philosophy in 1902. He studied law under the tutelage of the late 
Judge John J. Jacob in Wheeling, West Virginia, and was admitted -to 
practice in that city in 1891. He subsequently was admitted to the 
Supreme Courts of West Virginia and Ohio, and also to the Common Pleas 
Courts of Ohio and Pennsylvania and the United States District Courts 
in West Virginia and Maryland, and the Circuit Court of Appeals of the 
Fourth Circuit, also to the Supreme Court of the United States, in all of 
which he has appeared as counsel in the trial of important causes. He 
was Solicitor of the City of Wellsburg in 1899, which is the only public 
office he ever held. 

Mr. Palmer is also an enterprising, publie spirited citizen, and has 
been active in the development of the resources of his section of the State. 


346 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


He is President of the Wellsburg National Bank and is counsel for the 
West Penn. Railway System in the Ohio Valley, including all the traction 
and power companies from Moundsville, West Virginia, and Belleaire, 
Ohio, to Charleston, West Virginia, and East Liverpool, Ohio. He has been 
since July, 1913, a member of the strong law firm of Erskine, Palmer and 
Curl of the City of Wheeling, that represents a number of corporations as 
their attorneys. 

Mr. Palmer is a thorough lawyer, is an honorable and upright man, and 
is held in high esteem by members of both the Bench and the Bar, who 
personally know him. He is alert, patient and painstaking, and is sedulous 
in the preparation of his causes. As a man his character is symmetrical 
and elevated. He is faithful to his clients and deals fairly with his fel- 
lows. He is quiet and sedate, but always kind and agreeable. In private 
and social life he is somewhat reserved in his manners, but is courteous and 
kind-hearted and his personal qualities are staunchly subsidiary to his 
professional attainments. He married Miss Jeannette Ostrander, of Mt. 
Vernon, New York, August 1, 1902, and they are the parents of four chil- 
dren. He is a Democrat, but has never been active in politics. He is a 
member of the Presbyterian Church and the Order of Knights of Pythias, 
and is also an active member of the West Virginia and the American Bar 
Associations, and has prepared two or three papers of value to the pro- 
fession, which have appeared in the Year Book of the Association and the 
American Law Journal. During the years of 1910 and 1911 Mr. Palmer 
was editor and manager of the Wellsburg Daily Leader and the Wellsburg 
Weekly Herald. He was one of the first to suggest the name of Woodrow 
Wilson for the Presidency. He has always taken a keen interest in edu- 
cational matters, and was for a time Secretary of the Board of Education 
of the City of Wellsburg. He is a believer in technical education in the 
public schools, and advocates the continuous session of the schools. 


Joseph M. Crockett, B.A., LL.B. 


The subject of this sketch, son of Samuel R. and Berta (Pendleton) 
Crockett, was born and brought up on a farm in Wythe County, Virginia, 
having first seen the light November 29, 1890, and was educated two years 
at Emory and Henry College at Emory, Virginia, and graduated in June, 
1911, from Hampden-Sidney College, Virginia, with the classical degree of 
Bachelor of Arts, cwm laude, after two years of hard study. The year of 
his graduation he won the Virginia State Oratorical Medal, which was 
contested for by the eight colleges and universities of Virginia, with 
courses and requirements leading to the first class Bachelor of Arts degree. 
After graduation in the college courses in Arts and Sciences he entered 
the Law Department of Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Vir- 
ginia, graduating with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He also attended 
the Law Department of the West Virginia University at Morgantown, and 


. CROCKETT 


JOSEPH M 


348 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


passed the required examination by the Law Faculty of that institution 
in January, 1913, and was immediately thereafter licensed to practice in 
the courts of this State. He located in the growing town of Welch, 
McDowell County, as a residence and entered upon what appears to be, and 
doubtless will be, a successful career as an attorney and counselor-at-law. 

His father was one of the first slave owners of Virginia, who became a 
Republican, and cast his first vote as such for General Ulysses 8. Grant for 
President of the United States. The son, following in his father’s foot- 
steps, adopted that faith and is, therefore, ‘‘ a dyed-in-the-wool ’’? member 
of that political organization. He was a United States Commissioner for 
the Southern District of West Virginia from October, 1913, to August 29, 
1917, when he resigned to enter the military service of the United States. 
He entered that service September 5, 1917, and was assigned to Battery 
““A,’’ 315th Regiment of Field Artillery. He entered the service as a 
private, and has been promoted to corporal, sergeant, sergeant-major, and 
was selected to attend the Third Officers’ Training Camp, from which he 
graduated, and was recommended for commission as Lieutenant in fie d 
artillery. 

He has received an excellent education for the profession he has 
entered, and was making rapid progress when he entered the service 
of his country. Being a natural orator he took high rank as an advocate 
and trial lawyer. His practice embraced a!l branches of the law, and 
extended into all State and Federal Courts which was not limited alone 
to McDowell County, but went out into several of the adjoining counties. 
The first two years of his practice he handled eleven different cases in the 
Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, which is an unusual number 
for a lawyer just entering upon a general practice. He is a young man of 
ability and character, and we sincerely hope his life will be spared that 
he may return from the impending war with health and vigor and will, 
without reasonable doubt, reach the high position at the Bar for which he 
is so well equipped and which he was rapidly attaining when he answered 
““ the eall of the colors.’’ 

Mr. Crockett is unmarried; is a member of the Presbyterian Church, the 
Masonie Fraternity, the Odd Fellows, the Elks, the Loyal Order of Moose 
and also the Greek letter ‘‘ Frat ’’ of Pi Kappa A’pha. Furthermore he 
is a patriot of a lofty grade, and we wish him Godspeed and a safe and 
speedy return to his life business and his many friends in his adopted 
West Virginia home. 


Zachariah Witten Crockett 


Mr. Crockett, son of Robert G. and Margaret E. Crockett, was born in 
Tazewell County, Virginia, July 21, 1875. He was educated at Emory and 
Henry College, Virginia, completing his college course in 1894. Shortly 
after leaving college he began to read law in the office of Judge Joseph M. 
Sanders, in the City of Bluefield, West Virginia. In 1897 he was licensed to 


ZACHARIAH W. CROCKETT 


350 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


practice and began the practice in the City of Bluefield, where he lived 
and practiced law for the balance of his life. In 1901 he and his brother, 
George P. Crockett, formed a partnership and practiced together, under 
the firm name of Crockett & Crockett, until October 1, 1907, at which time 
Judge Joseph M. Sanders, who had resigned from the Supreme Court of 
Appeals of West Virginia, Z. W. Crockett and George P. Crockett formed 
a partnership, under the firm name of Sanders & Crockett, with offices in 
the City of Bluefield. This partnership continued up to the time of the 
death of Z. W. Crockett, which occurred May 20, 1915, just as his sun had 
reached its noon and when the future was bright with promise. 

Myr. Crockett was keen of intellect, learned in his profession, polished 
in his practice, and was in the legal arena a worthy antagonist and an 
associate to be desired; honest in mind and conduct, upright in principle 
and true to high ideas in his daily walk among men. He had every 
desirable attribute of a good citizen; gentle and true in his personal life, 
considerate toward others in word and deed, quick to respond to the 
demands of others for either aid or sympathy; he had no enemies and was 
loyal and faithful to his friends. 

He was one of the most learned lawyers in Southern West Virginia, and 
manifested rare judgment in all exigencies arising in trials. He was 
scrupulously ethical in his practice; uniformly courteous to the court, to 
associates and to adversaries; and preserved the best ideals and traditions 
of the legal profession. He was not over contentious in the trial of a 
cause, but he had the correct idea of what a real lawyer should be. He 
believed and practiced that his province as a member of the profession was 
to contend only for those things which the higher law dictates to be right, 
and to establish them on a firm basis by sound reason; consequently the 
work of his life was no small contribution to that end. He discouraged 
strife and turmoil among litigants. He never provoked litigation, as some 
lawyers do, by whom discredit is brought upon the profession; but always 
sought to bring peace out of controversies, to bring people together who 
were at variance with one another, and cause them to compose their difficu'- 
ties without law suits and litigations. He was not only an able lawyer and 
counselor, but he was in every respect an ideal citizen. He was a Christian. 
He was a gentle, manly man. Although he has passed away himself, he 
has left an influence that is not dead. His influence and example will con- 
tinue in the minds and hearts of his friends, and be transmitted by them 
to others as examples in the future. It is the lives of such men as he that 
maintain the high standing of our nob’e profession, without which our 
civilization could not last; and while we have lost him, we have not lost 
the lessons of his manly life. 


+eu 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 351 


Jacob Frank Cork, A.M., LL.B. 


Our subject, the son of Captain John James Cork, was born in Clarksburg, 
Virginia, April 25, 1857. He received a liberal education in both public 
and private schools; graduated from the State Normal School at Glenville 
in the class of 1874; taught in the public schools for a few years to accrue 
funds to enable him to finish out a college course. He then spent parts of 
two years — 1878 and 1879 — in the State Normal School at Fairmont. In 
the fall of 1879 he matriculated as a student in the prescribed classical 
course at the West Virginia University, and in 1883 graduated, receiving 
the degree of Bachelor of Arts. In June of the following year, having in 
the meantime taken up the study of law, he graduated from the State 
University as a Bachelor of Laws. Later on, the degree of Master of Arts, 
in cursu, was conferred upon him by the West Virginia University. In 
1884 he was licensed to practice law, and was admitted as a member of the 
Bar at Spencer, Roane County, West Virginia. About the time he was 
preparing to open a law office at Spencer he was tendered the position of 
Chief Clerk in the office of the State Superintendent of Public Schools, 
which he accepted, and remained there for eight consecutive years. At 
the expiration of this service, he located at the city of Charleston and 
entered upon a vigorous practice, which he has faithfully and successfully 
maintained to the present time. 

Mr. Cork has specialized in land laws and chancery practice, and has 
made exhaustive researches into the subject of land titles, and has in process 
of compilation an exhaustive textbook upon this branch of the profession. 
He is an industrious worker, is thoroughly reliable, a safe counselor and 
is conscientious and upright. No lawyer, anywhere, has a cleaner or more 
honorable record. He is clear-headed and possesses a large amount of 
practical, common sense. He has a large clientele, and yet he is seldom 
seen in a court room. Like Abraham Lincoln, he discourages courthouse 
trials as far as he can do so without jeopardizing the interests and rights 
of his clients. It has been said, and we think aptly, that ‘‘it is only a 
wise and able lawyer who knows when to bring a law suit.’’ We think 
Mr. Cork belongs to that class of counselors. At all events, he has accumu- 
lated much as proof that he has managed his business in a sound, financial 
way. His prominent characteristics, in addition to what we have already 
stated, are a strong will, clear judgment, a keen knowledge of human nature, 
rigid devotion to what he believes to be right, and a courteous and friendly 
manner in dealing with other members of the Bar. We believe that no one 
will dispute the statement that he is among the high minded, moral, common 
sense members of the Kanawha Bar. 


352 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Judge James Damron 


Judge James Damron, lawyer and jurist, residing at Williamson, Mingo 
County, West Virginia, was born in that county April 28, 1876. By close 
application and hard work in the short periods permitted him in the com- 
mon schools and utilization of odd hours at home he acquired sufficient 
learning to enable him to obtain employment in the County Clerk’s office 
of Mingo County in 1897, when he was but twenty years of age. He 
served as Deputy County Clerk for two years and then accepted employ- 
ment with the Kirk-Christy Lumber Company, of Cleveland, Ohio, as book- 
keeper and store manager, which position he held for one year, severing his 
connection to become a candidate for the oftice of County Clerk of Mingo 
County, to fill an unexpired term of two years, caused by the death of 
County Clerk Chafin. After a hard political fight he was elected to his 
first office by a small majority. In 1902 he was re-elected County Clerk for 
a full term of six years. In 1908 he was again re-elected to this office 
for a full term of six years, but resigning before his term of office expired 
to become a candidate for Judge of the Circuit Court of the Twenty-second 
Judicial Cireuit of West Virginia, comprising the counties of Mingo and 
Wyoming. 

Judge Damron, being reared by poor parents, did not have the advantage 
of a college education, but his experience as County Clerk of his own county 
for several years gave him an opportunity to read law for a number of 
years prior to his admission to the Bar under H. K. Shumate, who was one 
of the most prominent lawyers of the southern section of West Virginia 
during his lifetime. 

In 1909 Judge Damron entered the Law Department of the West Virginia 
University at Morgantown, and in 1910 was licensed to practice law. As 
soon as he had procured his license he was admitted to practice in his 
home county and in the Supreme and Federal Courts of West Virginia. In 
the same year, 1910, he became associated with the well-known law firm 
of Sheppard, Goodykoontz and Scherr, of Williamson, under whose able 
preceptorship his progress was so rapid and his prominence so swift and 
sure that he was honored by his fellow citizens in the counties of Mingo 
and Wyoming by the election of Judge of the Cireuit Court at the November 
election, 1912, by a majority of over one thousand votes. As Judge Damron 
is a Republican, this majority was quite surprising, as President Wilson 
carried the State by several thousand votes. His judicial record is an 
enviable one. He has a vigorous, analytical, discriminating mind and is 
independent, impartial and fearless in the rendition of decisions. He was 
not thirty-five years old when he was elected Circuit Judge, and was, per- 
haps, the youngest man who ever sat upon the Cireuit Bench of West 
Virginia. Judge Damron has not only gained a State-wide reputation in 
administering the laws of his State and county, but he can point with 
pride to his judicial decisions rendered during the five years that he has 


a ee 


JUDGE JAMES DAMRON 


354 Bench and Bar cf West Virginia 


been on the Bench, having been upheld by the Supreme Court of the State 
in all with the exception of three cases. He resides in Mingo County, one 
of the largest coal producing counties in the State. Prior to his election 
to the Bench, the records disclose that his county was third on the list in 
sending criminals to the West Virginia penitentiary, but by a strict admin- 
istration of the law, Mingo County now sends fewer criminals to the peni- 
tentiary than any other coal producing county in the State. At the first 
term of court held by him he announced from the Bench that he believed in 
the strict enforcement of all laws, and that every officer, high or low, should 
measure up to the full responsibilities of his duties. He further announced 
that he would ask the officers of the law to see that all the laws were rigidly 
enforced, and that in all elections that the sanctity of the ballot should be 
upheld, and that corruptions in the elections should be made a thing of 
the past. From this standpoint he has not deviated in the least. It will 
be recalled that less than one year ago an attempted assassination was 
made upon his life, during a term of court being held in his home county, 
for the stand taken by him in the enforcement of the law. 

Judge Damron is a member of the American Bar Association, as well as 
the West Virginia Bar Association. Besides his legal activities he has 
several business interests, being Vice-President and a Director.of the First 
National Bank of Pineville, at Pineville, West Virginia. He is a member 
of the Baptist Church, a member of the Masonic Fraternity at Williamson, 
and of the Royal Arch and Knights Templar of Huntington, of the 
Mystic Shrine of Charleston, of the Elks of Huntington and has reached 
the thirty-second degree of the &cottish Rite branch of Masonry, belonging 
to the Rite at Wheeling, West Virginia. 


Judge John Camillus McWhorter, LL.B. 


The McWhorters compose a numerous and noted family of citizens who 
are scattered over a large portion of West Virginia, who were among the 
early settlers of the western part of Virginia, many years before the 
mother Commonwealth was formed into two States. One of their peculiari- 
ties is, and always has been, a difficult matter to find ‘‘a black-sheep’’ 
among them. They are noted for integrity, sobriety and general upright- 
ness of character. We can say, with positive assurance, that the subject of 
this sketch is not an exception to these noted characteristics. 

John Camillus (commonly ealled ‘‘Jack’’), a son of Dr. J. M. and 
Rosetta McWhorter, was born in Upshur County, West Virginia, July 5, 
1866. He received his early training in the common schools of his native 
county. Later he took a four years’ selective course at the West Virginia 
University, including the Department of Law, graduating with the degree 
of Bachelor of Laws. He was admitted as a member of the Buckhannon, 
Upshur County, Bar, in 1894 with all of its privileges and immunities. He 


JUDGE J. C. MCcWHORTER 


356 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


was later admitted in all of the courts of West Virginia, and the Federal 
Courts, as well. He went to California and was received as a member of 
‘the San Francisco Bar, but shortly thereafter he returned to West Virginia 
and began the practice of law at Buckhannon in his native county, and met 
with success from the start. In 1897 he formed a law partnership with 
Senator U. G. Young, under the firm name of Young and MeWhorter, and 
their practice very quickly reached out into various parts of the State. 

In 1904 he was elected Judge of the Twelfth Judicial Cireuit of West 
Virginia, carrying each of the four counties composing that Cireuit. The 
public estimate of his popularity. and fitness for the office might be said 
to be attested by the fact that while the normal majority against him in 
the circuit was more than one thousand, he carried the cireuit by about 
nine hundred majority, and while the normal majority in his own county 
was about one thousand and seven hundred against him, he carried the 
county by over one hundred majority the other way. In his official eareer 
his earnest aim was to be thoroughly impartial, fearless and energetic. 
After his eight-year term of office expired, he resumed partnership with 
Senator Young, and the firm is now, as then, Young and McWhorter, and 
is conducting an extensive and profitable law business in the city of 
Buckhannon. He has always been a Democrat in politics, but has never 
been classed as a vigorous partisan. For a number of years he has devoted 
much of his time, energy and means in the warfare against the liquor 
traffic. He was Chairman of the West Virginia Ratification Federation 
which conducted the State-wide prohibition amendment campaign, carrying 
it by over 92,000 majority, and was author, almost in toto, of the West 
Virginia Prohibition Law, general'y known as the ‘‘ Yost Law,’’? now in 
force in the State. 

Judge McWhorter and Miss Elizabeth Alkire were united in marriage 
August 26, 1895, and are the parents of three children. He is a member of 
the Presbyterian Church, and also is a member of the Masonie Order, and 
Phi Kappa Psi College Fraternity. He is a forward-thinking man, broad 
and liberal in his views and thoroughly democratic in spirit. Though of a 
positive nature, he disagrees with his opponents without rancor. He owns 
a beautiful residence in the city of Buckhannon, and his home-life is ideal. 
He is an upright citizen, keenly interested in the social welfare and the 
betterment of the human mass. : 


Harrison Brooks Smith, A.B. 


Son of Isaac N. Smith and Caroline Quarrier Smith; born September 7, 
1886; attended public schools, Kanawha Military Institute, Washington and 
Lee University, Princeton University, from which he was graduated with 
the degree of Bachelor of Arts; also attended the University of Virginia 
Law School, but his course was interrupted before completion by an attack 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 35 


[is | 


of typhoid fever. He subsequently studied law in the office of his uncle, 
William A. Quarrier, of the Kanawha Bar; was admitted to the Bar and 
practiced his profession for some years as the junior partner of the firm 
of Adams and Smith, his associate being W. W. Adams, Esq., since deceased. 

In 1894 he became a member of the law firm of Couch, Flournoy and 
Price, and practiced his profession as a member of that firm and of its 
suecessor, Flournoy, Price and Smith and the present firm of Price, Smith, 
Spilman and Clay. 

Since 1900 Mr. Smith’s professional activities have consisted largely in 
acting as counsel for business interests and his active participation in the 
general practice has been curtailed. He is President of the George Wash- 
ington Life Insurance Company and Elk Banking Company, and is largely 
interested in Kanawha Banking and Trust Company, all institutions with 
home offices in Charleston, West Virginia. He is also interested in many 
of the business enterprises of that city and vicinity. He is a member of 
the University Club, the Princeton Club of New York and other similar 
organizations. 

Mr. Smith is a devotee of outdoor sports and has followed the traditions 
of his family in devoting a large part of his leisure time to the study of 
music. 

In 1906 he married Katharine Dana Bowne of New York and has three 
children of this union. Mr. Smith is the fifth of his family in direct descent 
practicing the legal profession, his grandfather, Colonel Benjamin H. 
Smith, having been one of the widely known and respected lawyers of his 
period; his father, Isaac Noyes Smith, as senior member of the firm of 
Smith and Knight was one of the prominent members of the Kanawha Bar 
until his death in 1883. 

His grandfather and father, who were eminent lawyers, are the subjects 
of sketches in this collection. 


Judge H. Delbert Rummel, LL.B. 


Among the well-established, well-known, successful middle-aged lawyers 
of the Charleston Bar is the subject of this sketch. He is the son of Henry 
and Mary B. Rummel, and was born in Charleston, West Virginia, August 
13, 1875. He attended the public schools of his native city, until 1892, 
when he entered St. Mary’s College at Belmont, N. C. He took the law 
course of study at Maryland University at Baltimore, graduating with high 
honors with the degree of Bachelor of Laws, and later took advanced studies 
at Johns Hopkins University at Baltimore. He was admitted as a member 
of the Maryland Bar, where he remained for a short time. He then located 
permanently at Charleston, West Virginia, and was received as a member 
of the Kanawha County Bar in 1897, where he has since practiced with a 
pronounced degree of success in all the State and Federal Courts of West 


Virginia. 


358 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Judge Rummel is a man of striking and prepossessing appearance, tall, 
erect, graceful, with classical’ mold of features.” He was, therefore, not 
long in finding his way into public life. He is an ardent Republican, and 
enjoys political associations, and possesses many elements of popularity. 
He is a splendid stump speaker, and in a court trial he is an able advocate. 
Possessing an acute discrimination he is generally successful in his under- 
takings. Self-assertion becomes easy when there is little to be apprehended 
from oppcsition. He, however, is never in the least daunted, nor is his 
masked power the least exposed. In the gage of the stress of conflict his 
thought flows without the slightest break in its coherency, and without the 
least disconcertedness, nor does his equable temper ever forsake him. 
He is sociable, agreeable and always easily approached, and is popular and 
enjoyable with his associates. He is well equipped in his profession, and 
always keeps about him a profitable clientele. 

He filled the office of City Solicitor of Charleston two terms, from 1901 
to 1905, and was Assistant United States District Attorney for the Southern 
District of West Virginia from 1905 to 1912, and filled both of these posi- 
tions with pronounced fitness and success. His last official position was as 
Judge of the Common Pleas Court of Kanawha County, in which high office 
he made an enviable record as a just and able jurist. 

He married Miss Ruth H. Millard, an estimable lady of Baltimore, June 
25, 1900. They have no children, and have a delightful home in the Capital 
City of the State. He is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order 
of Elks. 

Judge Rummel was elected Judge of the Cireuit Court of Kanawha and 
Clay counties in November, 1918, for a term of eight years and is ably 
fil ing that responsible position. 


Hon. Fleming C. Leftwich 


Mr. Leftwich was born in Giles County, Virginia, April 17, 1866, and is 
the son. of Tubal W. and Mary (Porterfield) Leftwich; attended the public 
schoois three or four months in winter, and worked on his father’s farm 
the remainder of the year, until he was eighteen years old, when he com- 
menced teaching in the public schools, in winter, and still worked on the 
farm in summer; came to Boone County, West Virginia, in 1886, where he 
taught school and studied law until October, 1889, when he was admitted 
to the Bar at Madison, Boone County, and entered at once into active 
practice, forming a partnership with Col. Joel E. Stollings, who was then 
Prosecuting Attorney of Boone County; which partnership continued until 
the death of Colonel Stollings, in 1897. After the death of Colonel Stollings 
he formed a partnership with M. A. Byrnside, under the firm name of 
Leftwich and Byrnside, which continued until 1910, when Mr. Harry G. 
Shaffer became a member of the firm, and the name was changed to Left- 
wich, Byrnside and Shaffer, as it now stands. 


HON. FLEMING C. LEFTWICH 


360 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Colonel Stollings had a large practice, which Mr. Leftwich took hold of 
as soon as he was admitted to the Bar, and held the same, and added to it, 
after Colonel Stollings’ death, practicing, principally, in the Circuit Courts 
of Boone and Logan counties, in the Supreme Court of Appeals of the State 
and in the United States Court at Charleston. 

At the time he was admitted to the Bar land titles were in a very 
unsettled condition in his section of the State, and, while he had a general 
practice, it was largely made up of cases involving the title to lands, many 
of which were very important, and would have been notable in any other 
State, or in the northern or eastern parts of this State. But, arising in this 
section, they were only considered routine business by a lawyer engaged in 
general practice. 

Mr. Leftwich began to take an active part in politics before he was 
old enough to vote, and was Chairman of the Republican County Commit- 
tee of Boone County almost continuously from 1888 to 1910. He was elected 
Prosecuting Attorney of Boone County in 1896, by a small margin, when 
the county was Democratic by a large majority; declined to stand for 
re-election, but was prevailed upon to accept the Republican nomination for 
Representative in the House of Delegates in 1900, and was defeated; was 
elected, on the Republican ticket, to the State Senate, from the Eighth 
Senatorial District, in 1906, to fill a vacancy caused by the death of 
Hon. J. A. Browning; was Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banks and 
Corporations, member of the Committee of the Judiciary, and of several 
other important committees; declined a renomination, and has never sought 
or held any other public office. 

He aided in the organization of the Madison National Bank of Madison, 
the first bank organized in Boone County, and was its President until 1910, 
when he moved to Huntington, Cabell County, and took charge of the legal 
department of the Yawkey and Freeman land, coal and oil interests, in 
which he is still engaged. He was married, in 1893, to Miss Minnie, 
daughter of Col. Joel E. Stollings, and has one child, a daughter. He is a 
Past Master of Odell Lodge of Freemasons at Madison; member of Tyrean 
Royal Arch Chapter; Kanawha Commandery No. 4, Knights Templar; and 
Beni-Kedem Temple, Order of the Mystie Shrine, of Charleston; and of 
Huntington Lodge of Perfection No. 4, Scottish Rite Masonry; also member 
of Huntington Lodge No. 313, B. P. O. Elks. 

Although Mr. Leftwich resides in the city of Huntington, he attends all 
of the sessions of the Cireuit Court of Boone County. 


William E. R. Byrne 


The legal profession requires of the men engaged in it mentality of the 
highest order. And yet it is not alone natural aptitude which makes for 
success in the practice of the law. If it is not combined with perseverance 
and capacity for severe brain work, no effective results can be achieved. 
We do rot mean to say that the subject of this sketch does not possess 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 361 


the average natural gifts of the average lawyer, but we do mean to say 
that in the law, as in all of the learned professions, the man that toils 
hardest and longest is the one who succeeds best in the practice of the law. 
Mr. Byrne, by constant and unremittent toil, has made splendid headway 
in his chosen profession. He learned early in life that work wins, and by 
this sign he conquered. 

William E. R. Byrne, of the Charleston Bar, son of the late Hon. Benjamin 
W. Byrne, who, in his day, was an eminent land lawyer in this State, was 
born at Fort Defiance, Virginia, October 26, 1862, and was educated in the 
common schools of Charleston and Wheeling, West Virginia, from 1873 to 
1879. It is true that he did not have the advantages of a college training, 
but he acquired, by the careful reading of properly selected books, a varied 
and substantial learning and became master of a clear, terse and vigorous 
style, both in writing and speaking. He read law under the direction of 
his father, and kept ‘‘on the job,’’ so to speak, until he became familiar 
with the elementary textbooks and was able to pass a-creditable examina- 
tion in his studies. He was admitted as a member of the Kanawha County 
Bar in 1884, a short time after he had reached his majority, and has kept 
constantly ‘‘at it’’ until the present time. 

He first located at Sutton, in Braxton County, where he ‘‘hung out his 
shingle,’’ and where he, in a short time, showed pronounced evidences that 
he had within him the elements of success as an attorney-at-law. His 
friends presented him as a suitable man for Prosecuting Attorney of Brax- 
ton County, and he was nominated and elected in 1892. In that important 
ofice, for the term of four years, he rendered efficient and satisfactory 
service, proving himself to be a vigorous and able prosecutor. Desiring a 
wider field of opportunity he moved his residence to Charleston some years 
ago, and formed a partnership with Robert G. Linn. Both being good 
lawyers, they have a large and profitable business in that city. 

Mr. Byrne’s practice includes all of the various branches of the pro- 
fession in all of the State Courts and the Federal Courts, including the 
Supreme Court of the United States. He, however, has specialized, to a 
considerable extent, in land laws and land litigations, and maintains a high 
standing, particularly in that branch of the profession, although he is an 
able all-round lawyer. 

Mr. Byrne, for many years, has had a strong penchant for politics, and 
for a number of years he has engaged in the management of political 
campaigns for the Democratic party, being a ‘‘dyed-in-the-wool’’ member 
of that organization. He has never been an office-seeker himself, but he 
takes special delight in helping his friends to political favors. He is an 
effective organizer and his backing and support are earnestly sought after 
by partisans of that political organization. In this line of endeavor he has 
been remarkably successful. 

Mr. Byrne married Miss Amanda Austin, of Lewisburg, West Virginia, 
June 12, 1889, a lady of culture and refinement, and they have five children 
as the result of their marriage. He is a member of the Masonic and Elks 

- Fraternities: 


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Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Robert Thruston Hubard, Jr., A. B. 


The subject of this brief sketch has not had a specially eventful career, 
and yet it has been in every respect successful. He started out with a 
well-rounded college education,which has been augmented by a continuous 
application to and an almost constant reading and study of such books 
as woula be useful to him in fitting himself for the goal of his ambition, 
which was that of becoming a learned and accomplished member of the 
legal profession. Although but little over forty, he has, beyond question, 
more than ‘‘made good ’’ in carrying out his early resolutions, being now 
known und recognized as one of the brightest and most successful prac- 
titioners of the southern portion of West Virginia. 

He is not only learned in the law, but from the beginning, he has main- 
tained a life of uprightness and probity, which marked him as an attorney 
who could be trusted in the handling of the many important cases, which 
have been trusted to his management. He, therefore, not only handles his 
cases skillfully in trial courts, but he is, at the same time, a careful and 
conscientious counselor. When he brings a suit, either in law or chancery, 
it is always with the belief that there is something in it, besides fees. 
And this is one of the prime secrets of his success as a lawyer. Another 
reason for his success in the law is the fact that he has eschewed politics, 
and has devoted all of his time and energies to the exclusive practice of 
his profession. He absolutely allows nothing to call his attention from the 
legitimate practice of the law. Being well informed and well grounded in 
legal principles, and devoting his energies and time exclusively to pro- 
fessional duties, he could not fall short of maintaining a profitable and 
large clientele in all the courts of his section. Indeed, his practice has 
extended into all the West Virginia courts, both State. and Federal, and 
more especially in the State Supreme Court of Appeals. 

Mr. Hubard was born June 2, 1876, at ‘‘ Chellowe ’’ in Buckingham 
county, Virginia, the home of his father’s family. His mother was a 
Bolling and this was the old home of the Bollings in Virginia. He is 
the third in succession of the name, Robert Thruston Hubard, and his 
boy is the fourth. 

Graduating from Hampden-Sidney College in 1897 with second honor 
and the A.B. and B.S. degrees, he taught one year in Locust Dale 
Academy, Virginia, one year as tutor for the Wilcox boys at ‘‘ Flower de 
Hundred,’’? the Wilcox home on James river, and two years as principal 
of the Smithfield Institute, Smithfield, Virginia. He then studied law at 
the University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee, and at the University 
of Virginia that winter, completing the course there in 1902 and was 
admitted to practice in the Corporation Court in Lynchburg, Virginia, in 
the fall of 1902, having passed the examination and been licensed to 
practice by the Virginia Supreme Court, June 24, 1902. 


R. T. HUBARD, JR. 


364 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


He came to Fayette county, West Virginia, May 23, 1903, and has made 
that his home since. His practice is general, in State and Federal Courts; 
has been very successful and he has accumulated a competence. He mar- 
ried April 19, 1911, Miss Ruth Drewry Whittle, of Martinsville, Virginia, 
daughter of Judge S. G. Whittle, of the Virginia Supreme Court. They 
have four children. They are Episcopalians, but as there is no church 
of that denomination at Fayetteville they attend the local churches, in one 
of which he has been ‘teaching the adult bible class for a number of 
years. He is a member of the Chi Phi Fraternity, and is a Mason in good 
standing, being a member of the Blue Lodge at Fayetteville, the Chapter 
at Thurmond, the Commandery at Mt. Hope and the Shrine at Charleston. 

He is of a retiring disposition, fond of living, loves his friends, enjoys 
reading and ‘‘ the out of doors,’’ and has a nice home on a high hill 
overlooking Fayetteville and commanding a fine view of mountain scenery. 


Captain Samuel S. Green. 


Captain Green, at one time one of the leading lawyers of the Kanawha 
Bar, was born in Culpeper county, Virginia, in 1840, and departed this life 
at Charleston, West Virginia, September 18, 1917. He was educated in the 
publie and private schools of his native county, and at the University of 
Virginia. In April, 1861, he volunteered in the Confederate Army at the 
call of his state, and before the war ended he was promoted to the rank of 
Captain. He was a valient soldier, and remained in the service until the 
close of the war. After the close of hostilities he returned to his home, 
was admitted to the Bar, and for more than a half century was an honor 
to the profession. 

In 1872 Captain Green located in Charleston, became a member of the 
law firm of Payne and Green, which continued for about twenty years, 
when it was dissolved by mutual consent, and he continued thereafter to 
practice alone until the time of his last illness and death. He was well 
grounded in the profession, and was a safe, sound and successful lawyer. 
His convictions, whether upon law, religion, politics or morals were granite 
like. Fidelity to duty and principle was his crowning virtue. He was 
affable, courteous and kindly disposed upon all occasions, and was highly 
esteemed by all of his associates in the profession. He practiced in all 
the State and Federal Courts, which embraced all branches of the pro- 
fession, being well informed in all of them. 

Captain Green was a Democrat in politics, a devout member of the 
Protestant Episcopal Church, and was a leader in every movement for the 
elevation of the morals of the people. He gave but little attention to poli- 
ties, preferring to devote his entire time to the profession he adorned. His 
death was mourned by the people of Charleston, who respected him highly 
both as a lawyer and citizen. 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 365 


He married Miss Goodwin, of Charleston, who died within a very short 
time of his own departure, with whom he lived in happy wedlock for a 
great many years. His home life was, indeed, beautiful. They left no 
children. 


Hon. William Sydney Laidley. 


The subject of this brief biography, who for a half century was a 
prominent member of the Kanawha Bar, was born in Cabell county, Vir- 
ginia, June 27, 1839, and died at his home in Charleston. He received 
his education at Marshall College, Virginia. In 1863 he moved to Charleston 
and read law in the office of his brother-in-law, the late Judge George W. 
Summers, of that town, and was admitted to the Bar in 1865, where he 
continued to practice until his fatal illness, as above stated. After his 
admission he became the partner of Judge Summers, and remained such 
until the Judge’s death. He then formed a partnership with the late 
William H. Hogeman, which continued until the death of Colonel Hogeman. 
After this he practiced alone until his own demise. In addition to their 
general practice, the firm of Laidley & Hogeman was counsel of the Chesa- 
peake and Ohio Railroad Company for many years. He followed his 
profession industriously, and maintained a high rank as a member of the 
Charleston Bar. He was thoroughly posted in every branch of the law, 
and was very successful in his extensive practice. 

In polities Mr. Laidley was a Democrat. He was a member of the City 
Council for years and also was City Solicitor; was a member of the State 
Legislature in 1872-3, and was President of the Kanawha County Court 
for a term of four years. In all of these public positions he was intelligent, 
industrious, honest and useful. He was an active and useful member of 
the Episcopal Church for nearly a half century, and was a constant toiler 
for the advancement of his city, county and state. He had a special liking 
for the study of all historical subjects, and, with the exception of the late 
Virgil A. Lewis, he probably has. written more historical articles, covering 
a larger field of Virginia and West Virginia events, than any other citizen 
of the present State of West Virginia. He was editor of a magazine for a 
number of years, which was published by the West Virginia Historical and 
Antiquarian Society, and his last work of this character was the publica- 
‘tion of a History of Kanawha County and Its People, a royal octavo volume 
of more than one thousand pages, which is a living testimonial of his love 
of research, although his literary work was not allowed to interfere with 
the regular duties of his profession. 

Mr. Laidley was an honored and highly esteemed lawyer, who enjoyed 
the affectionate esteem of all, in every station of life, who personally knew 
him. Gifted with a mind peculiarly legal, a student of his profession as 
well as of general literature for a half century, wielded a pen facile and 


366 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


interesting in his many publications, he always ranked among the ablest 
members of the Bar, and as one of the most prominent citizens of Charles- 
ton. With a sturdy honesty, and invariable candor, tempered with a genial 
courtesy and respect for all, he increased his friendship even in the heated 
conflicts at the Bar. Every one had confidence in his integrity and fair 
dealing. He aimed not at ornate diction or oratory, preferring the plain 
incisive speech of logic and studied analysis, and was a foeman well 
equipped for any contest in any court. Nature had endowed him with a 
kind, happy home circle. At the Bar or among friends or neighbors, his 
companionship was always welcomed as cheerful and entertaining, and 
was ofttimes mixed with rare wit and humor. He was in every respect an 
ideal citizen, and was universally loved ly all who knew him. He had 
several daughters and a son, W. S. Laidley, Jr., who is a member of the 
Charleston Bar. 


Robert S. Spilman, B.S., LL.B. 


Our subject is a member of the strong law firm of Price, Smith, Spilman 
& Clay, of the Charleston Bar, and is one of the able, rising young 
lawyers of West Virginia. His success has been marked and notable almost 
from his entrance into the legal profession. He possesses energy, a broad 
conception of important subjects, and is thoroughly trustworthy. He started 
in his life work with the dominant idea in his mind that one is sure to 
succeed, if he can steadily be found at his post of duty and stands four- 
square among his fellows; and those who know him well will admit that he 
has fully measured up to his early resolutions in the line of his high ealling. 

He was born March 22, 1876, at Warrenton, Virginia, one of the fertile ~ 
and beautiful sections of the mother Commonwealth. In early lfe he 
became a student at the Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Virginia, 
and graduated therefrom with the degree of Bachelor of Science. He then 
- took the course in. law at the University of Virginia, and with this splendid 
equipment in the technique of the law, he came to Charleston, West Virginia, 
and was admitted to that Bar in 1900, and has made this his permanent 
home. The practice of his firm embraces all of the State and Federal 
Courts, including the Supreme Court of the United States, and in some 
cases extends into surrounding States. He is married and is the father of 
four charming children. 

For a number of years Mr. Spilman has been an active and valuable 
member of the West Virginia Bar Association, and has been a vigorous 
member of its Executive Council. He is affiliated with the Presbyterian . 
Chureh, is a member of the Masonic Fraternity, and is a Democrat in 
politics. He is genial and kind in his disposition, and has a large and 
growing circle of personal friends. His life is a correct illustration of 
Lord Bacon’s advice to professional young men: ‘‘TI hold every man a 
debtor to his profession; from the which as men of course do seek to 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 367 


receive countenance and profit, so ought they of duty to endeavor them- 
selves by way of amends to be a help and ornament thereunto.’’ 

He has never filled, or even sought, a political office. His one and only 
aim has been to become a successful lawyer, and he is working out this 
single purpose grandly. 


Hon. Edward Theodore England, B.S., LL.B. 


The present Attorney-General of West Virginia is a son of A. J. 8. and 
Mary England, and was born in Jackson County, West Virginia, September 
29, 1869. He prepared for college in the public schools of his native county 
and also of Mercer County. Later he entered the State Normal School at 
Athens, Mercer County, and graduated therefrom in the class of 1892. 
In 1898 he matriculated as a student in the Southern Normal University 
at Huntingdon, Tennessee, and in 1900 received the degrees of Bachelor 
of Science and Bachelor of Laws. The same year of his graduation he 
was admitted to the Bar of the Cireuit Court of Wyoming County, and 
entered upon the practice of law at Oceana, the seat of justice of that 
county. The next year, however, he moved his residence to Logan, the 
county seat of Logan County, where he has since resided and continued 
his professional labors. He hes by industry and application to his pro- 
fessional duties met with marked success, in that he has a large and 
profitable legal business. He is a man of unusual firmness of character, 
is fair and just in his dealings and has the confidence of the people who 
trust their business to his management and direction. He is known and 
esteemed as one of the able, enterprising, rapidly developing attorneys 
sn the section of the State where he resides. 

Mr. England has devoted some of his spare time to politics, and has been 
rewarded for his efforts in that line of endeavor. In 1903 and 1904 he 
served as Mayor of the thrifty, enterprising town of Logan and ‘‘ made 
good.’’ In 1908 he was elected to the State Senate from the Eighth Dis- 
trict for the term of four years, and was re-elected in 1912 to the same 
position. He took high rank in that law-making body and served actively 
and faithfully on a number of leading committees. In fact he was one 
of the floor leaders and did much in shaping the legislation of those ses- 
sions. During his last term he was President of the State Senate, and under 
our Constitution was ex officio Lieutenant-Governor of the Commonwealth. 
He made a fair, prompt and able presiding officer. 

In the campaign of 1916 Senator England was nominated by the Repub- 
lican party as its candidate for the highest legal office in the State — that 
of Attorney-General, and in the election that followed he was chosen to 
that responsible position by a majority of the voters of West Virginia, 
and is serving therein creditably and satisfactorily. He is a man of rugged 
frame and mind, and is capable of rendering hard and enduring work. 


368 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


General England is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Chureh and 
the Masonic, Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias Fraternities. Im Decem-- 
ber, 1901, he married Miss Hulda Leona Lenburg, of Moulton, Iowa, and 
they are residing temporarily at the Capital of the State, where his official 
duties require him to stay. 


Hon. Louis Emory McWhorter 


Our subject is a well-known member of the numerous McWhorter family 
distributed over a large part of West Virginia. He is a son of the late 
Judge J. M. McWhorter, of whom personal -mention is made in another 
part of this volume. He was born at Spencer, Roane County, West Vir- 
ginia, November 30, 1856. After his father had located at Lewisburg in 
Greenbrier County, Louis attended the public schools of that county, and 
subsequently became a student in the Lewisburg Academy, where he 
received a liberal academic education. After reading law for a year or 
more, under the instruction of his father and his uncle, the late Judge 
Henry ©. McWhorter, who afterwards became an Associate Justice of the 
Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, he matriculated as a student 
in the Law Department of the University of Virginia at Charlottesville, 
where he received a thorough training in the technique of the law. In 
1882 he was licensed to practice, and in 1886 he became a partner with his 
uncle, Henry C. McWhorter, uncer the firm name of H. C. & L. E. 
MeWhorter, at the City of Charleston, which continued until 1897, when 
the senior member became an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of 
Appeals of the State, on account of which the law partnership was neces- 
sarily dissolved.. Both being high grade lawyers their practice became 
large and profitable. Isaac Loewenstein took the place of Judge 
McWhorter and the firm was then McWhorter & Loewenstein, which con- 
tinued for a number of years, when Mr. Loewenstein retired. In the mean- 
time their business kept expanding until it reached large proportions. 
Although their practice was general in its character they, however, special- 
ized in chancery and commercial law. Mr. McWhorter is known and 
recognized as one of the most active, able lawyers in the southern portion 
of the State, and has been connected with many important eases inthe 
State and Federal Courts. 

He is a Republican in politics, and although thoroughly wedded to his 
profession he has held several political offices, all of which he filled ably 
and well and acquitted himself with credit in all of them. He has been a 
member of the West Virginia Legislature, has been City Solicitor of 
Charleston and member and President of the Board of Edueation. 

He has been an active, efficient member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church practically all of his life, and for years he has been one of the 
leading official members of the First M. E. Church of Charleston, being for 
seven years its Sunday School Superintendent, and for a larger period a 


HON. LOUIS E. McWHORTER 


370 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Trustee, Steward, ete. June 27, 1883, he married Miss Emma M. Champe, 
of Charleston, and they have reared an interesting family of children, all 
of whom are residents of the capital city of the State. 

The firm name is now McWhorter & Carney, composed of L. E. 
MeWhorter, H. L. Carney and L. E. McWhorter, Jr., the last named being 
now Lieutenant in the military service of the Government in the war with 
Germany. 


Hon. Joseph Allen Alderson 


Mr. Alderson was a son of Col. George Alderson, one of the early settlers 
of Greenbrier County, Virginia, and Jeanette Creigh (McCreary) Alderson, 
his wife. He was born at Meadow Dale, Virginia, March 17, 1821; was 
educated in the common schools of his native county and took a course in 
law at the Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, and was promptly admitted to 
the Bar. He located at Summersville, Nicholas County, Virginia, and very 
soon worked himself into an active and successful practice. Lawyers were 
not as numerous then as now; but young Alderson had the character and 
grit to stick to his calling, and possessing a strong mind it did not take 
him long to establish himself as the leading lawyer of Nicholas and sur- 
rounding counties. The writer remembers when the people desired to 
institute a law suit they felt assured of success if they could aA the 
services of Joseph A. Alderson. He was a hard student, an inveterate 
worker, an honest man, was far superior to the average lawyer of his day, 
and handled his cases ably and successfully. He was employed on one side 
of practically all important cases that came before the courts of Nicholas 
County for more than a quarter of a century. Furthermore, he bore the 
reputation of an honest and just man, which added strength to his calling. 

Mr. Alderson was a Democrat in politics. He was Prosecuting Attorney 
of Nicholas and Webster Counties for several terms prior to the Civil 
War, and was conscientious in the discharge of his official duties. He was 
elected a member of the Virginia State Senate at the beginning of the 
war, and was continued in that position until the formation of the new 
State of West Virginia. : 

He married Miss Mary 8S. Duffy, daughter of John Duffy, of Summers- 
ville, a man of large property and wide influence, January 13, 1852, and 
was the father of seven children — the eldest of whom was the Hon. John 
D. Alderson, who appears on another page of this volume. His grandson, 
Captain F. N. Alderson, son of J. D. Alderson, also appears in this volume. 
Thus we have three generations of successful lawyers, which is rather 
uncommon. 

Senator Alderson was a member of the Baptist Church and the Masonic 
Fraternity. He lived at Summersville, the county seat of Nicholas County, 
from the early fifties until the time of his death, which occurred April 8, 
1876, in the midst of his usefulness, greatly beloved by the people of the 
entire community. 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 371 


Hon. Armistead Abraham Lilly, LL.B. 


The subject of this sketch was born in Summers County, West Virginia, 
March 25, 1878. His parents, however, moved to the County of Raleigh 
while he was young in years. There he attended the public schools for a 
number of years. Later he attended the High School at Bluefield; com- 
pleting his work there he became a student at the Southern Normal Uni- 
versity at Huntingdon, Tennessee, graduating from the Law Department 
with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. In 1900 he was. admitted to the 
Raleigh County Bar. That year he was elected a member of the West 
Virginia Legislature and was the youngest member of that body. In 1904 
he was elected to the office of Prosecuting Attorney of Raleigh County, 
and in 1908 was one of the Presidential Electors who cast the vote of the 
State for Hon. William H. Taft. Im 1910 he sought the Republican nomi- 
nation for Congress in the Fifth District, making a campaign which, while 
not successful in bringing him the honor he sought, gave him a State-wide 
reputation and made him a factor to be reckoned with in the future. In 
1912 he was nominated without opposition for Attorney-General of West 
Virginia, and in the election of that year received the highest number of 
votes of any Republican State candidate. 

As Attorney-General he had many questions of great importance to deal 
with, among them the Virginia debt case, the railroad rate cases, and the 
cases growing out of charges of bribery brought against members of the 
Legislature. In all these he showed marked ability and exvellent legal 
generalship. 

He is a man of large physique, and presents a commanding appearance. 
He is a natural orator and never fails to command the attention of an 
audience. He is not yet forty, and is one of the best known men in the 
State. He and Judge Ira E. Robinson were competitors for the Republican 
nomination for Governor in the campaign of 1916, and in this historic 
eontest General Lilly delivered addresses in nearly every county in the 
State. It was by odds the most spirited contest ever known in West Vir- 
ginia. After all the counts and recounts were made in the different 
counties Judge Robinson was declared the winner by a small majority. 

Since Mr. Lilly’s retirement from the Attorney-General’s office he has 
located permanently in Charleston for the practice of his profession, and 
has erected a beautiful residence where he lives with his wife, nee Mary E. 
Glenn, of Arlington, Kentucky, a daughter and two voung sons. 


Hannibal Forbes, A.B., LL.B. 


For many years the subject of this sketch, now deceased, was one of the 
well-known attorneys of the Ohio County, West Virginia, Bar. He was 
the son of George and Eliza Echols Forbes and was born in the City of 
Wheeling, Virginia, June 1, 1837. He was prepared for college at the 
Linsly Institute, a high grade classical academy, now a little over one 


372 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


hundred years old, from which he went to Washington College, Pennsyl- 
vania, entering the junior class, and graduating therefrom with the degree 
of A.B. in the class of 1858 with fourth honors. He promptly entered the 
Cincinnati College of Law, and graduated in the class of 1859 as a Bach- 
elor of Laws. He immediately returned to Wheeling and was admitted to 
practice in the autumn of that year, where he conducted a prosperous and 
profitable business up to two years previous to the time of his demise, 
which took place March 11, 1903, at Atlantic City, N. J. He was a man 
of pronounced integrity and was in all respects thoroughly reliable and 
trustworthy; hence he forged to the front as one of the leading and most 
successful lawyers and business men of the counties composing ‘‘ the Pan 
Handle ’’ of Virginia. There never was a time in Hannibal Forbes’ 
mature life that his word, among the people who knew him, was not as 
good as his bond, and that too for any reasonable amount, because he was 
a man of large means and resources. In all of his relations, in his family, 
at the Bar, in his friendships in the community, he was loyal, true and 
upright, generous, charitable and considerate. He was also one of the 
most courteous and agreeable of men, always kindly disposed and full of 
wit and humor, and never was lacking for friends and followers. He was 
a safe and sane counselor, and could always be depended upon to do the 
wise and proper thing. He was a sound lawyer, an enterprising citizen 
and an upright man. 

Mr. Forbes was a Democrat in his political convictions, but never was a 
candidate for political favors. He never was a candidate before the people 
for any office except City Councilman of Wheeling. He was elected and 
proved to be an able, safe member. He was Deputy Clerk of the United 
States District Court and also a Uinted States Commissioner at the City 
of Wheeling for about ten years, and always could be depended upon to 
discharge his official duties honorably and faithfully. He was twice hap- 
pily married and had five children, only two of whom are now living. He 
was a member of the Masonic Fraternity and in college was a Phi Kappa 
Psi. He was a useful citizen of Wheeling and died all too soon. 


Hon. Harvey W. Harmer, LL.B. 


Harvey W. Harmer, son of B. Tyson and Margaret J. Harmer, was born 
at Shinnston, Harrison County, West Virginia, July 25, 1865, and received 
his early educational training in the public schools of his native town, 
which has recently developed into a prosperous little city. Later he 
attended the State Normal School at Fairmont and graduated in the class 
of 1889, taking the complete academic course. Still later he attended the 
West Virginia University at Morgantown and graduated from the Law 
Department in the class of 1892, receiving the degree of bacnelor of Laws. 
The same year of his graduation he moved his residence to Clarksburg, 
was admitted to the Bar, hung out his ‘‘ law shingle,’’ began practice, 
and is carrying on a profitable business ‘‘ at the old stand.’’ 


HON. HARVEY W. HARMER 


374 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Myr. Harmer is one of those men not uncommon in this country who 
pursue their course quietly through life, doing well and earnestly whatever 
they undertake; and at the same time living honest and upright lives, and 
are always found on the moral side of every question that comes before 
the people. His career has been that of a successful lawyer. Although 
he has for a number of years taken a deep interest and an active part in 
State and National politics, and has held a number of important public 
positions, he has never allowed this to materially interfere with his busi- 
ness as a practitioner of the law. He loves the law, sticks to it, and the 
result is he has achieved success. His practice embraces all branches of 
the law and extends into all State and Federal Courts. He has proved a 
safe and wise counselor, a conscientious adviser, and is deliberate in all 
of his acts; and better than all else he at all times seeks to be just and 
entirely fair with his fellow men. 

He was a member of the lower branch of the West Virginia Legislature 
from Harrison County in the session of 1894-96, and being a strong and 
fluent public speaker, of sound judgment and honest purposes, ranked well 
among the members and was a valuable legislator. He was a member of 
the State Senate from 1900 to 1904, and was reckoned among its ablest 
and sanest members. He was a member of the Board of Regents of the 
State Normal Schools from 1895 to 1901, inclusive; was Secretary of the 
Board of Education of the Clarksburg Public Schools for nineteen years; 
was Mayor of the City of Clarksburg in 1896 and 1897; was Supervisor 
of United States Census of West Virginia for 1900, appointed by President 
MeKinley, and reappointed in 1910 to the same responsible position by 
President Taft; was Referee in Bankruptcy from 1898 to 1901, inelusive, 
and was nominated in 1914 by the Progressive party as a candidate for 
Congress in the First West Virginia District, and was defeated along with 
all the other members of his ticket. In all of the public offices he ever 
held he proved efficient and faithful to every trust. 

Senator Harmer married Miss Nellie B. Martin, July 18, 1901. They 
have no children. He is an active and influential member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church; is a Trustee of the West Virginia Wesleyan College of 
Buckhannon; is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and is 
a Republican in polities. He is a man of good stature and of unusual 
firmness of character. He was again elected a member of the West Vir- 
ginia State Senate in the campaign of 1918. 


Daniel James French Strother 


Among the able and well-known lawyers of the Southern Division of 
West Virginia is the subject of this sketch. He is the son of James F. 
and Mary Botts Strother and was born in Washington, Virginia, June 29, 
1872. His preliminary education was received in both private and public 
schools in his native section of Virginia, which was supplemented by 


STROTHER 


De Ss Be 


376 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


reading large numbers of valuable books, embracing all branches of 
important knowledge and information. In early life he determined to take 
up law as a profession, and accordingly began to devote his best energies 
to the careful and systematic study of legal text books. By this means and 
the unsparing use of the midnight oil lamp he became qualified for admis- 
sion to the Bar, and after a critical examination was admitted to practice 
at Washington, Virginia, in 1893. Without the advantage of a collegiate 
education, but being a hard student and endowed by nature with a strong 
intellect, and by strict application and self-discipline in his chosen field 
of labor he became a good lawyer and in many ways a man of learning. 
In this way he developed into a successful attorney of high rank in the 
community in which he resides. 

After his admission to the Bar he located for a short time at Williamson 
in Mingo County, when he decided to settle permanently in the growing 
town of Welch, the seat of justice of McDowell County, where he has since 
resided and where he has established a large and profitable business as a 
successful attorney. He is a Republican, but has never taken an active 
part in politics and never was a candidate for any office, but devotes his 
entire time to his profession in which he has made an enviable record. 
Only yet in middle age, possessing habits of industry and of unswerving 
integrity, there are yet even greater achievements in store for him both 
as a lawyer and a citizen. Mr. Strother is a member of the law firm of 
Anderson, Strother, Hughes & Curd, well-known throughout the entire 
Southern portion of West Virginia as one of the strongest aggregations 
of able attorneys in the entire State. 5 

In November, 1902, Mr. Strother was united in marriage with Miss 
Elizabeth Garnett Grant, but has no children. They reside in a pleasant 
home in the City of Welch, where they enjoy the confidence and respect 
of all the people of that community. 


Judge John Thomas Simms 


Judge Simms, son of Robert C. and Sarah Catherine Simms, was born 
in the Town of Ansted, Fayette County, West Virginia, May 10, 1875, and 
was educated in the public schools of that locality. Subsequently he 
attended the Normal School of Summersville, Nicholas County, and still 
later he received an additional academic training at the Academy at 
Fayettesville in Fayette County. In these high grade academies he received 
an education in many respects equal to an ordinary college course. Having 
decided upon the law for a profession he entered the West Virginia Uni- 
versity, from which he graduated in the class of 1903, and was admitted to 
the Fayette County Bar in July of that year, and lost no time in entering 
upon an active practice. Being a young man of good address and of sound 


judgment and attentive to his duties as an attorney, he was not long in 
gathering around him a profitable clientage. 


JUDGE JOHN T. SIMMS 


378 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


In 1910 he was the nominee of the Republican party, of which he was 
an active member, as a candidate for Judge of the Criminal Court of 
Fayette County, and was elected by a large majority. In this important 
position he served the full term of four years, and acquitted himself in a 
creditable manner. Before his election as a criminal Judge his practice 
had extended into all the State and Federal Courts of the surrounding 
counties. His mind early became skilled in logical reasoning, which enabled 
him to solve intricate legal problems promptly and thoroughly, both as a 
lawyer and as a judge. As a trial lawyer he handles his cases with remark- 
able judgment and skill. He possesses self-reliance to an extent that he 
does not fear results in the trial of an important cause and a sufficiency 
of self-assertion to hold his own in any sort of a contest. Withal he is 
kindly disposed and is generous to a fault. He declined to be a candidate 
for re-election as Judge, and at the expiration of his term he returned to 
active practice. 

For several years past he has been Chief Counsel for the State Tax-Com- 
missioner and Commissioner of Prohibition in all eases arising in both 
State and Federal Courts involving the interpretation and enforcement 
of the Tax and Prohibition Laws of West Virginia, a most difficult position 
to fill. Judge Simms has the unique distinction of never haying been 
reversed by the Supreme Court of Appeals in a single case out of the large 
number of eases tried by him while Judge of the Criminal Court. This of 
itself is proof of the carefulness and exactness of Judge Simms as a 
nisi prius judge. 

Judge Simms was united in marriage with Miss Eugenia A. Alderson, 
daughter of the late Hon. John D. Alderson, of Nicholas County, December 
28, 1903, to whom four sons were born, viz.: John Alderson, Philip Robert, 
Frederick Eugene and Edward B. Simms, all of whom are strong, promising 
lads. The family are all members of the Presbyterian Chureh. The Judge 
is also a Mason and a Knight of Pythias and is a member of the West Vir- 
ginia and American Bar Associations. 


Hon. William Wellington Hughes, LL.B. 


Mr. Hughes is the son of Henry F. and Virginia (Hall) Hughes, and was 
born in Lewis County, West Virginia, April 8, 1873. He received his 
education at the West Virginia Conference Seminary at Buckhannon, Upshur 
County, and at the West Virginia University, from which latter institution 
he graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He engaged in teaching 
in the common schools for four years, one of which he was principal of the 
High School in the city of Weston. He began life as a lawyer in 1900 at 
Weston, in the county in which he was born and reared, where he remained 
ten months. Feeling that there were broader opportunities for a young 
lawyer in the extreme southern part of the State, he changed his residence 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 379 


to Welch, the capital of McDowell County, and shortly thereafter he became 
a member of the strong and well-established law firm of Rucker, Anderson 
and Hughes. Being a young man, strong and rugged in both body and 
mind, from the very beginning he was an acknowledged success as a lawyer. 
After the death of the senior member of the partnership, the firm was 
changed to Anderson, Strother, Hughes and Curd, one of the ablest and 
best known law firms of southern West Virginia. Their business covers 
all the branches of the profession in all the State and Federal Courts, and 
the cash receipts therefrom are known to be very large. All the members 
of the firm are high grade lawyers, and clients are constantly seeking their 
services. 

Mr. Hughes is a hard student, and a diligent, energetic and reliable 
worker. He is a man of marked personal appearance, is of large stature, 
strong features, and his whole aspect is full of force. 

He has dignified the profession by integrity, fidelity and learning, and 
interest in his work never lags until he has reached the bottom of his cases. 
He is a Republican in political affiliations, but has never sought political 
preferment, preferring to devote his entire time to his profession. He, 
however, served one term in the West Virginia Legislature as a representa- 
tive from McDowell County, where he rendered faithful and efficient service. 
He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and has for a number 
of years been a Trustee of West Virginia Wesleyan College at Buckhannon. 
He is married and has two children. His home-life is ideal, and he is 
naturally hopeful and happy in his hours with his friends. He enjoys the 
confidence and respect of all those who know him personally. 


Clyde Beecher Johnson 


The eldest son of James L. and Anna C. (Martin) Johnson, Clyde John- 
son, was born June 17, 1871, on a farm in Pleasants County, West Vir- 
ginia, near what was then Twiggs Post Office. His father, at the age of 
74, is yet living at Ellenboro, Ritchie County, West Virginia, and has for 
many years been an active farmer and business man in that section of the 
State. 

In conversation with the writer Mr. Johnson talked of little else than 
his mother, who died in 1909. He attributes to her any degree of success 
that has come to him, and among other things said: 

““My mother was a queen among women. She was one of the early 
female graduates of Marietta College, and I yet believe she was the most 
thoroughly cultured and educated woman I have ever met. Her knowledge 
was encyclopedic, her memory marvelous, and her judgment of persons and 
situations unerring. After her graduation she taught in Mississippi, and 
later in Texas and during a portion of the war between the States she was 
principal of the Huntsvilie Female Academy, now, I believe, a Texas Normal 


380 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


School. After the close of the war she came back north to care for her 
aged parents, and in 1866 opened ‘‘ The Cedars,’’ one of the first exclusive 
finishing schools for young ladies west of the Allegheny Mountains. In 
January, 1870, she married mv father, and in addition to her duties as a 
wife and mother she found time to teach what was in fact a private college 
almost up to the time of her death in 1909. I have spoken thus at length 
of my mother because she deserves it. She is by far the most important 
part of this sketch, as whatever of success has come to me is almost wholly 
due to her example and teaching, and to such of her high ideals and 
splendid mind as I inherited.’’ 

Mr. Johnson was educated in the common schools of West Virginia, later 
spending some time both at Marietta and at West Virginia Wesleyan 
Colleges, but is not a graduate of either. He taught publie schools for a 
number of years, in the meantime devoting himself to the study of law, 
being admitted to the Bar in 1895. He is proud of the fact that Arthur 
I. Boreman, the first Governor of West Virginia, and then Judge of the 
Third Cireuit, was the first Judge to sign his law license. His first year of 
practice was at Sistersville in Tyler County, at the end of which he 
returned to Pleasants County and was the nominee of his party for Prose- 
cuting Attorney in the election of 1896. He says that his defeat in that 
election at once curing him of running for office, and forcing him to settle 
down to hard professional work was a blessing in disguise. 

He practiced in the town of St. Marys from 1896 until July 1, 1913, when 
he removed to Charleston and formed a partnership with Hon. William G. 
Conley, who had just finished his term as Attorney-General of the State. 
This firm represents The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company in many 
matters in West Virginia, and has a wide general practice in both State 
and Federal Courts. 

In 1898 Mr. Johnson married Miss Anna Grace Hart, of Randolph County, 
West Virginia, and with their two children — Myra and Bosworth — they 
reside in a pleasant home in the City of Charleston. At this home with his 
family and in his modest home library Mr. Johnson finds his greatest 
pleasures. Amid pressing duties of a general law practice he has found a 
few spare hours to devote to literary pursuits, and in addition to some 
editorial work has written occasional bits of verse. Some of these were 
published in 1914 in a little volume entitled ‘‘ Rhyme and Reason.’’ 

He is a member of the American Bar Association, the West Virginia Bar 
Association and the local Bar Association of the City of Charleston. His 
highest ambition is to be remembered when his life is finished as a lawyer 
worthy of fellowship in these associations, which include the great legal 
minds of America. 

In politics Mr. Johnson is a life-long Democrat of the school, he says, 
that trusts the popular judgment and believes that no cause or party 
emergency is great enough to demand a sacrifice of candor. While never 
himself a candidate for public office since 1896, until the present year, 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 331 


being the nominee of his party as a candidate for State Senator, he has 
always taken an active interest in the affairs of his party, and has as wide 
an acquaintance throughout the State as perhaps any man of his age. He 
is a believer in Government by party, and it is never difficult to know 
where he stands on any public question. He is one of the ablest stump 
speakers in the entire State in all of the political parties. 

Mr. Johnson confesses of having lived the quiet life of the country 
lawyer who must live by his work, and assures the biographer that there 
is little to tell about it that would seem of importance except to his family 
and intimate friends. He is an orator of high grade, and is a trial lawyer 
of pronounced ability and is a sound pleader as well. 


Andrew Price, LL.B. 


Mr. Price is a son of the Rev. William T. Price, D.D., and Annie L. 
Price, his wife. He was born in Pocahontas County, West Virginia, Janu- 
ary 29, 1871, and was educated in the public and private schools of the 
Greenbrier Valley, notably the Academy at Lewisburg, Greenbrier County, 
which offered a liberal education in the higher branches of studies, includ- 
ing the Latin language and the sciences; later he attended the West Vir- 
ginia University at Morgantown, from which he graduated in 1892 with 
the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He was in the same year admitted to 
membership of the Pocahontas Bar, and has since practiced his profession 
uninterruptedly at Marlinton, the seat of justice of his native county. He 
married Miss Grace Leigh Clark, February 10, 1897. and has two daughters 
— Agnes and Margaret — who are graduates of the Lewisburg Seminary, 
and are now students at the West Virginia University. In his religious 
convictions he is a Presbyterian, having followed in the footsteps and 
teachings of his distinguished father. 

In polities Mr. Price is an adherent of the Democratic party, and has 
always been liberal, reasonable and just. He is a man of strong con- 
victions upon all subjects and allows, without reservation, the same priv- 
ilege to others. He is by nature kind and generous, and enjoys the con- 
fidence and respect of the people who have personal and business relations 
with him, and but few men in the State have a wider acquaintance than 
he or who is more generally known. He is a man of staunch integrity, of 
conscientious purpose and ardent convictions, and his talents, energy and 
perseverance have gained him the reputation of a successful and able 
practitioner of the West Virginia Bar. He possesses mental traits pecu- 
liarly adapted to the requirements of his profession. He has an inquisitive 
and highly analytical mind and keen powers of perception, which penetrate 
every question of law or fact that engages his attention; consequently he 
is always prepared for any turn which a case may take and is, therefore, 
fortified against surprise or novel development. 


382 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Mr. Price’s strong fort is that of an advocate —a public speaker. He 
is full of wit and humor, which are so natural and easy, and yet so quaint, 
they are peculiarly impressive. He apparently endeavors to suppress the 
humor in his make-up, but it will not down. It is too natural for that. It 
will leak out; and yet he can, at times, be as serious as if he were conducet- 
ing a funeral. The distance between the sublime and the ridiculous with 
him is so close that they simply blend into one, and they are, therefore, 
entertaining, instructive and winning. He never speaks that every ear is 
not open and every mind is receptive. ; 

He has never sought a political office except as a side issue. He has been 
Mayor of his town, President of the Board of Education, Postmaster and 
Notary Public. He is thoroughly public-spirited, and has a literary turn 
of mind; and when not engaged in professional work his leisure is devoted 
to the systematic reading of books, and we may add that he has written 
many valuable essays and a considerable number of real poems. To say 
the least he is a many-sided man. In a recent letter to the writer he closed 
with this sentence, which in no respect applies to himself: ‘‘After mature 
consideration he adventured the opinion that life is not what it is cracked 
up to be.’? ‘ 


D. Barger Evans 


Among the well-known and successful lawyers of the Marshall County 
Bar is the subject of this sketch. His parents were Walter and Susanna 
(Francis) Evans, highly respected citizens of the ‘‘ Northern Pan Handle ”’ 
of Virginia. The son was born and reared in the splendid County of 
Marshall, beginning an honored career December 18, 1859. He was educated 
in private and public schools at Moundsville, the seat of justice of Mar- 
shall County. Later he spent two years (1881 and 1882) of hard and faith- 
ful study at Waynesburg College, one of the long established institutions 
of high grade in Western Pennsylvania. He says the reason he did not 
complete the entire college course was because money in those days was 
harder to get one’s hands on than in these times of pushing and pulling, 
and we may add puffing also. We are inclined to the belief that he having 
decided to take up the law as a profession, was anxious to get back home 
and begin a course of study of legal textbooks. After all he was pretty 
well educated, and being as industrious a young fellow as the writer of 
these lines ever had the pleasure of knowing personally, and a natural 
born student, we are inclined to believe that he made no serious mistake 
to quit college and return to his home at the time he did. The fact is 
whilst a complete college education is important and always helpful, yet 
the real education must come from a life spent in reading, thinking, work- 
ing and rubbing up against other men in a life of toil and digging. The 
truth is work is the only real winning card in this life. If one have the 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 383 


fundamentals upon which to base a fabric of learning, and will thereafter 
apply the necessary get-up-and-get, as our subject Evans has done, he is 
sure of success in any calling in life. 

Mr. Evans while in college began the study of legal textbooks; but in 
the summer of 1882, after he left college, he returned to Moundsville, 
entered the law office of John Alexander Ewing, a number one lawyer, 
and began the reading of law in dead earnest. With Mr. Ewing’s tutoring 
and his own systematic habits of study, Mr. Evans passed a very creditable 
examination before three of the Judges of the Supreme Court of Appeals 
of West Virginia, and was admitted to the Bar April 7, 1883, and promptly 
began to practice. At first it was ‘‘ hard sledding,’’ but he had the grit 
to stick to it and work, early and late, until his clients became more numer- 
ous and more profitable. Hence, it was not many years until the rule was 
reversed: instead of his hunting clients, clients began to hunt him; and 
that rule, to this day, is still working in his favor. 

Mr. Evans is not only rated as a successful, able lawyer, but all through 
life he has stood forth as a clean, honorable, upright man. His practice 
has extended into all the branches of the profession in all the State and 
Federal Courts of West Virginia, and also in the Supreme Court of the 
United States. He is a careful pleader, and handles his cases well. He is 
naturally courteous and kind, and is a very successful trial lawyer. Being 
studious and industrious, he takes nothing for granted, but goes down to 
the bed-rocks both in the law and the facts involved, before he enters upon 
the trial of his causes. Long years ago, he found out that the lawyer who 
Wins is the one who is most familiar with his cases when he enters a 
court room for trial. 

September 11, 1890, Mr. Evans was united in marriage with Miss Mary 
Estelle, daughter of the Rev. B. F. Myers. Two children are the result of 
this union. His home-life is ideal, and he enjoys associations with his 
friends, wherever he meets them. His standing among the people in the 
community in which he resides is that of a moral, upright, honorable 
gentleman, and an all-around successful lawyer. He is a member of the 
Benevolent Order of Elks. 


Hon. Carney M. Layne, LL.B. 


Mr. Layne, son of William M. and Nancy E. Layne, was born at Crown 
City, Ohio, March 2, 1878. His primary education was received in the 
common schools in his early home town. Later he entered the Eastman 
National Business College at Poughkeepsie, New York, from which he 
graduated in 1898. Still later he entered the Law Department of George 
Washington University, Washington, D. C., from which he graduated, 
LL.B., in 1904. He successfully passed the Washington City Bar examina- 
tion in 1905, which is known to be one of the severest in the entire country, 


384 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


and was admitted to the District Bar. He selected Huntington, West 
Virginia, as a permanent home, and in 1906 he became a member of the 
Cabell County Bar, where he is conducting a profitable and growing busi- 
ness. He is regarded, not only as a well-grounded lawyer in all branches 
of the profession, but he is known as a hard and faithful worker and a 
safe adviser and pleader. By fair dealing and manly conduct he has 
steadily built up a profitable clientele. He practices in all branches of the 
profession in all the courts, both State and Federal, within the limits of the 
State. 

He is an adherent of the Democratic party and is one of its active 
managers in Cabell County, being at this time Chairman of the County 
Executive Committee. He was a member of the West Virginia Legislature, 
from Cabell County, in 1915-16, and took an active part in framing the laws 
of that period, and proved faithful to every public trust. He served on 
the Judiciary and several other important committees of the House of 
Delegates, and was an attentive and active member of all of them. He is 
an aggressive, enterprising, public spirited citizen, and takes a vigorous 
part in the growth and development of the unusually prosperous city in 
which he resides. 

Mr. Layne married Miss Alice M. Lanahan, of Washington City, Novem- 
ber 21, 1916. They have no children. He is a member of the Order of 
Freemasons and of the Delta Tau Delta College Fraternity. 


Thomas A. Bledsoe, A.B., LL.B. 


The subject of this sketch is one of the very able young lawyers of the 
Charleston Bar. He is the son of Thomas A. Bledsoe, Sr., and Edmonia 
Page Bledsoe, and was born at Staunton, Virginia, May 5, 1882. He was 
educated in publie and private schools of his native city. Later he matricu- 
lated as a student at Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia, 
from which he graduated in 1901 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. 
After teaching two years at Locust Dale Academy, having in mind in the 
meantime the law as a profession, he entered the Law Department of 
Washington and Lee University, from which he graduated in 1905 with the 
degree of Bachelor of Laws. The year of his graduation he was admitted 
to the Bar of the Supreme Court of Virginia. Later he located in Charles- 
ton, West Virginia, and became a member of the firm of Littlepage, Cato 
and Bledsoe, which handled a large volume of general court practice. This 
strong firm was dissolved by the election of Mr. Littlepage to Congress, but 
Cato and Bledsoe continued the practice until the fall of 1917, when 
Mr. Cato was appointed by the Governor to fill the vacancy created by thé 
death of Judge Samuel D. Littlepage, as Judge of the Cireuit Court of 
Kanawha and Clay counties, which leaves Mr. Bledsoe the sole survivor 
of the firm; but he is a strong lawyer and can sustain himself in any court, 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 385 


anywhere, and doubtless will be able to handle the large business of the 
former firm in a satisfactory mannet.. 

Mr. Bledsoe in politics is a Democrat and was the candidate of that party 
in 1912 for Attorney-General of West Virginia, but was defeated along with 
the balance of his ticket. 

Mr. Bledsoe is a man of marked personal appearance. He is of good 
stature, his features are strong, and his whole aspect is full of force. His 
personal character is above reproach, and his ability is beyond question. 
There is in store for him much more than he has already received, in the 
law as well as in politics. November 25, 1913, he was united in marriage 
with Miss Walker Bradford. They have one child— Thomas A. Bledsoe, 3d. 
Their home is in the Capital City, where they have many appreciative 
friends. In church relations Mr. Bledsoe is a Presbyterian. He is a 
splendid type of the thrifty, able and promising young members of the 
profession in West Virginia, and we opine there is a great future in store 
for him. 


Thayer Melvin McIntire, LL.B. 


Our subject is a son of James W. McIntire, an old and able lawyer of 
Wetzel County, West Virginia. The son was born in that county June 22, 
1881, and received his education in Magnolia High School of his native 
county. Later, in 1902, he graduated from the Law Department of the 
West Virginia University in the class of 1902, receiving the degree of 
Bachelor of Laws. Almost immediately after his graduation he was 
admitted to practice in the Cireuit Courts of this State, and during the 
same year he was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of Appeals of 
West Virginia and in the United States District Courts. He has had a large 
practice in Monroe County, Ohio, and has been engaged in extensive litiga- 
tions in the Supreme Court of the State. 

He was appointed Tax Commissioner of Wetzel County in 1905, and also 
served one term as a member of the Board of Equalization and Review of 
Wetzel County, and was twice elected a member of the City Couneil of the 
town of New Martinsville. 

Our subject was practically reared in a law office, his father having been 
an active practitioner in the courts of this State since 1880. He has been 
active in politics and was always ready and willing to lend his aid to the 
Republican party and its candidates. He was a candidate for Prosecuting 
Attorney of his county in 1916, and. although defeated, owing to the large 
Democratic majority in Wetzel County, he received the largest vote ever 
polled by a Republican eandidate for that office in that county. He is a 
man of great energy and a hard worker at anything he undertakes. It is 
no wonder, therefore, that he has succeeded as an attorney-atlaw. Such 
men rarely fail in their undertakings. 


15 


386 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Hon. G. G. Duff 


Mr. Duff is a son of George W. and Henrietta Duff, and is a native of 
Doddridge County, West Virginia. He was born December 4, 1863, and was 
educated in the public schools of that county, West Virginia State College 
at Salem, and the State Normal at Fairmont, West Virginia. He taught 
in the public schools for seven years and was greatly benefited by the 
experience, as it fixed the habit of systematic reading and study after he 
had laid aside his textbooks. Whilst engaged in teaching he made up his 
mind to become a lawyer, and procured the necessary textbooks and began 
a course of study, which he pursued assiduously for several years. June 2, 
1898, he was examined as to his proficiency by the Supreme Court of 
Appeals at Wheeling, West Virginia, and was licensed to practice law 
within the limits of the State. He located at Summersville, in Nicholas 
County, where he now resides and where he is conducting a satisfactory and 
profitable practice. 

In politics Mr. Duff has always been an adherent of the Jeffersonian 
Democracy, but is rather of the conservative kind; nevertheless, he is 
““dyed in the wool.’’ In 1902 he was elected Mayor of the town of Sum- 
mersville, the seat of justice of Nicholas County, and served the people so 
satisfactorily that they re-elected him in 1904 for a second term. He was 
subsequently chosen for the office of Town Recorder, which he faithfully 
filled for six consecutive years. He takes a deep interest in the civic 
development of his town and county and spends much of his time and 
energies in forwarding its progress and development. Whilst Nicholas 
County has not forged to the front as rapidly as it might have done in the 
years agone, it, nevertheless, is rich in coal and timber, and in these later 
years it is having its inning, and much of this is due to the energy and 
enterprise of men of the makeup of the subject of this sketch. 

Mr. Duff was elected a member of the West Virginia Legislature in 1912 
and served efficiently for the full term of two years; and in 1916 he was 
elected Prosecuting Attorney of the county, and is now proving to the 
lawlessly inclined that they cannot violate the laws of the county and State 
without being vigorously prosecuted. 

His practice covers all the branches of the law, in all the courts of the 
State — Federal as well as State — including the Supreme Court of Appeals, 
and affords satisfactory remunerative rewards. 

Mr. Duff united in marriage with Miss Linda Chapman September 24, 
1901, and they have one child — James H. Duff — now ten years of age. 
Their home is at Summersville, on the watershed between the valleys of 
Peters Creek and Muddlety Creek,— the latter being a beautiful stretch of 
country on the pike towards Sutton in Braxton County. 

Mr. Duff is a member of the Baptist Church, and is also a Freemason, 
a Knight of Pythias and an Odd Fellow. 


HON. G. G. DUFF 


(sy) 
(eo) 
ie) 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Judge James W. Robinson 


Judge Robinson was born on a farm near Clarksburg, West Virginia, on 
the 22d day of February, 1875. His parents are Joseph B. and Martha E. 
Robinson. He is one of a family of fourteen children; was educated in 
the publie schools of Harrison County; graduated from the Fairmont State 
Normal School in 1900; took the law course at the West Virginia University, 
and was admitted to practice at the Clarksburg Bar in May, 1906. Before 
being admitted to the Bar, however, he taught school two terms, and was 
editor of a daily and weekly newspaper in Clarksburg for five years. After 
his admission to the Bar he participated in many of the important criminal 
and civil suits tried in the courts of the county, and frequently appeared in 
cases in the Federal District and Circuit Courts. 

He was elected a member of the House of Delegates of the West Vir- 
ginia Legislature and served in the sessions of 1910-12. In 1912 he was 
elected Judge of the Criminal Court of Harrison County, and again in 1916 
he was re-elected to the same office. He discharged the duties of this 
responsible office to the entire satisfaction of the public. He is a good 
lawyer and a just judge, and a man of that makeup cannot fail to prove 
satisfactory in public office. 

Judge Robinson is a Democrat in his political affiliations, and a Baptist 
in his religious convictions. He has always lived a conscientious, upright 
life and has the confidence and the utmost respect of the people of his 
county. As a Judge he is absolutely incorruptible, and is honest in both 
thought and purpose. He is a faithful husband, and a man whose life and 
character are enriched with noble qualities of both head and heart. 

He was married May 19, 1913, to Mabel Lyon Stealy, and has no 
children. . 

He belongs to several fraternal organizations: Knights of Pythias and all 
of its co-ordinate branches, and at the present time is Grand Chancellor of 
the State, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and all of its branches, 
and is a Mason and an Elk. 


J. Howard Holt 


Mr. Holt is among the prominent lawyers of the northern portion of 
West Virginia, and he is largely a self-made man. He was born on Knawls 
Creek, Braxton County, Virginia, September 19, 1858, and is the son of 
Jonathan and Eve Ann (Mealy) Holt, and all the primary education he 
received was in the public schools of his native county and at West Milford 
in Harrison County; but he was all his life an omnivorous reader of 
valuable books, and in this manner he has pieced out a valuable, practical 
education, and is well informed on all important subjects, as well as the 
law. After all, what one makes of himself, and not what he is made by 
the aid and influence of friends and family, is the most patent and prom- 


JUDGE JAMES W. ROBINSON 


390 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


inent thought that arrests the attention and deepens the convictions of his 
fellow men. We must admit, however, that the value of collegiate educa- 
tion cannot be overestimated; nevertheless, many of the greatest lawyers 
and clergymen all along the history of our country never attended a col- 
lege of any sort. Still they were gifted with extraordinary intellects, and 
are men of application and industry of an unusual sort. The fact, therefore, 
that a young man, for financial reasons, is barred from the privileges and 
advantages of a college education does not, by any means, prevent one 
from making a success in any of the learned professions, as the history of 
Mr. Holt and many of the other leading lawyers of the West Virginia 
Bar clearly prove. Still, our sincere advice to all young men who con- 
template entering any of the learned professions, is to go through a college, 
if it is at all possible, and with most young men it is, or can be made 
possible. Grit, get and gumption are the only real essentials, and no man 
can succeed as a lawyer without these elements, college or no college; but 
the help of a college will aid one’s chances amazingly. A large majority 
of the eminent lawyers, clergymen and physicians are college men. Then, 
go to college, if within one’s reach, is our candid advice to one and all. 
The writer once heard Dr. John B. Minor, of the University of Virginia, 
one of the greatest law lecturers of this or any other country, say in one 
of his great lectures to a law class: ‘‘No man can be a great lawyer — 
a masterful lawyer—vunless he is thoroughly posted in the technique of 
the law; and this he can never secure outside of a well equipped law 
school.’’ This is putting it strong, but it is largely true. ; 

Mr. Holt read law in his own home, was examined and admitted to 
practice by the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia at Wheeling, 
November 8, 1884, and has since constantly practiced, without interruption, 
in the city of Moundsville, the county seat of Marshall, and also in the 
adjoining counties. He occasionally attends the courts of western Penn- 
sylvania and eastern Ohio in important land litigation cases. He has given 
his entire time and attention, thus far, to the practice of his profession. 
For over thirty years he has been a Commissioner of both the Cireuit and 
County Courts of Marshall County, which itself would give him a broad 
legal training. 

He never held a political office of any kind. He was originally a Repub- 
lican, but since 1886 he has been an active member of the Prohibition party, 
and has aided it in all of its campaigns. He is a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church and was twice married; his first wife was Miss J. Ella 
West, whom he married July 4, 1883, who died May 5, 1886. His second 
wife was Miss Annie P. Thatcher, to whom he was united in marriage 
June 22, 1887, and who still survives. They have had six children, two of 
whom are dead. 

Mr. Holt is a man of high social and moral standing in the community 
in which he resides, and ranks high as a member of the legal fraternity of 
the State. 

He has been a member of the Legal Advisory Board of Marshall oo 
during the European War. 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 391 


Hon. Charles Powell 


The subject of this brief sketch is one of the best known and really able 
lawyers of the northern portion of West Virginia. He was born March 12, 
1865, in Marion County, West Virginia, and is the son of John W. and 
Lucy A. Powell. His early education was obtained from the common 
schools of his native locality, and was completed by a systematic reading 
of the best books at his command, covering all subjects which were neces- 
sary to store his mind with information useful and important in his future 
career. In early life he determined upon the law as a profession, and his 
reading and study were in that direction. He attended no college, but he 
possessed an aspiration for knowledge which no circumstance could sup- 
press and an ambition which would not down. In this manner he procured 
an education that was of great practical value to him in later years, and 
enabled him to attain a high rank in the legal profession. He read law 
with great avidity and earnestness, and, being endowed by nature with an 
intellect singularly adapted to the discernment of truth, however veiled 
in the speciousness of reason, or enveloped in the delusion of circumstance. 
He early learned that application, promptness and fidelity were the quali- 
ties which insure professional success, and with these he brought to the 
Bar an earnest ambition and a zealous purpose which prompted him to the 
noblest exertion in every sphere in which his professional services have been 
employed. 

Mr. Powell began his career as a lawyer in 1887 as a member of the 
Marion County Bar, and has since successfully practiced in that and the 
surrounding counties. He began early, and never allowed politics or any- 
thing else to distract his thoughts and purposes from the study and practice 
of the law. The only office he ever sought or held was Prosecuting Attorney 
of Marion County, which he ably filled from 1893 to 1897, and again from 
1901 to 1905. Being a strong, firm lawyer, he was that sort of a prosecutor 
of all violators of the law. His practice is general, and extends to all the 
courts of West Virginia, both State and Federal. He has specialized in 
corporation practice, and particularly in coal, oil and natural gas cases, 
which are numerous in the courts of West Virginia. 

He is married, but has no children, and his residence is at Fairmont, the 
seat of justice of his native county. In politics he has always been a 
Democrat. His career shows conclusively what grit and energy will accom- 
plish in a young man’s professional life. 


Hon. George R. C. Wiles 


Mr. Wiles, son of J. T. and Mary C. Wiles, was born in Grayson County, 
Virginia, May 29, 1877, and received a thorough rudimentary education in 
the common schools of Virginia and West Virginia, and after establishing 
his residence in West Virginia he took the law course at the West Virginia 
University, which he completed in 1900, and was promptly thereafter 


392 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


admitted as a member of the Mingo County Bar at Williamson, the seat of 
justice of that county in the extreme southern portion of the State, which 
at that time was a small town, of great promise, and has since developed 
into a prosperous little city on the Norfolk and Western trunk railroad. 
As a lawyer he is sagacious and able and has succeeded well. He possesses 
a clear, strong, logical mind, and is liberal, though tenacious, in the main- 
tenance of his own opinions, and never fails to express himself with exact- 
ness and force. Although not ambitious of political notoriety, he has been 
an active and influential factor in the Democratic politics of Mingo County. 
He was nominated and elected a member of the lower branch of the West 
Virginia Legislature in 1902, and served two years with honor to himself 
and credit to the county he ably represented. While he shows some taste 
for and tact in politics his prime purpose is to devote his best energies to 
the work of his profession, and it must be said he is making good this 
determination. 

Mr. Wiles was appointed by Governor Cornwell, in 1917, to a six years’ 
term on the Public Service Commission of the State of West Virginia, a 
position in influence and responsibility second only to the Chief Executive 
himself. This Commission is given supreme control over all the public 
service corporations within the State. Section 4 of the act creating the 
Commission requires every public service corporation to maintain adequate 
and suitable facilities, safety appliances or other suitable devices, and 
perform reasonable service in respect thereto safe and sufficient for the 
security and convenience of the public, and the safety and comfort of its 
employees, and in all respects just and fair and without any unjust dis- 
erimination or preference. All charges, tolls, ete., must be just and 
reasonable. 

Every railroad company shall permit switch connections for intrastate 
business upon terms and conditions prescribed by the Commission, whenever 
the business offered by the connecting company shipper, in the judgment of 
the Commission, justifies it. The Commission may require railroad and 
other transportation companies to maintain such suitable public service 
facilities and conveniences as may be reasonable and just, to make reason- 
able connections with trains on branch lines of such railroads and other 
connecting railroads, to require passenger trains to stop at junctions with 
other railroads. The Commission may prescribe the number of men neces- 
sary to constitute safe crews for handling trains on steam railroads. No 
steam railroad shall discontinue any regular passenger train, or any other 
publie service facility, or change any regular passenger train schedule, 
without authority of the Commission. 

Sections 6 and 7 prohibit all unjust discriminations. No publie service 
corporation shall by means of any special rate or rebate, or any other device 
or method, charge, collect or receive from any party a greater or less com- 
pensation for any service rendered or to be rendered than it charges, collects 
or receives from any other party for doing a like and contemporaneous service 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 393 


under the same or substantially similar circumstances and conditions. Nor 
shall any public service corporation give any undue or unreasonable prefer- 
ence or advantage to any person or locality, or any particular character 
of traffic or service, or subject any particular person or locality to any 
undue or unreasonable prejudice or disadvantage in any respect whatsoever. 

The position is semi-judicial, and Mr. Wiles has held the office long enough 
to establish the conclusion that he is well equipped for the place, and is 
performing the duties thereof faithfully. His term of service will not 
expire until 1923. 

Mr. Wiles married Miss Ethel Cole April 15, 1903, by whom he has three 
children. He is a man of medium size and is apparently the personification 
of good health. He is a good public speaker and a successful trial lawyer. 


Hon. Matthew M. Neely, A.B., LL.B. 


Major M. M. Neely, son of Alfred and Mary Morris Neely, is a native 
of Doddridge County, West Virginia, where he was born November 9, 1874. 
He attended the public schools of his native county and also Salem College 
at Salem, West Virginia, during a part of which time he was engaged as a 
teacher in the public schools, which he followed for four years. In 1897 he 
matriculated as a student at the West Virginia University in the classical 
and military departments, and graduated, A.B., with high honors, in 1901. 
He then entered the Law Department of the University, graduating there- 
from, LL.B., in 1902, and was admitted to the Marion County Bar in the 
autumn of that year. Being an industrious worker and a gifted public 
speaker, his practice rapidly increased. He joined the West Virginia 
National Guard in 1898, and filled the office of First Lieutenant, Captain 
and Major. He also served as a private volunteer soldier in the Spanish- 
American War. He was a military cadet during the several years he was 
at the State University, and, therefore, possesses a pretty thorough military 
education. 

Like a great many young lawyers, Major Neely had an inclination to 
engage in politics. So he became the Democratic candidate for Mayor 
of the city of Fairmont, was elected, and proved to be an able and efficient 
official. Meantime his law practice was rapidly increasing, and, being an 
earnest worker, he did not neglect it, but it kept on growing, and he was 
often engaged in special cases in adjacent counties. Thus his reputation as 
a successful attorney rapidly spread throughout the northern portion of the 
State. He is careful, clear-headed, systematic, vigilant and thorough in the 
preparation of his cases. In argument he addresses the reason and the 
practical judgment of the courts and juries, and is clear-sighted and vigilant 
in respect of motives and ulterior influences. His publie and private life 
as a lawyer and an individual have always been above reproach, which is 
the greatest of virtues. His character is determined, awakens confidence, 


394 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 
and wins him popularity not infrequently among his opponents. Set over 
against every stern or strong quality is a check or balance that holds his 
character well in poise. He is a learned and incorruptible man, and a 
patriot of the highest mould. He moves among his peers with universal 
esteem, and amidst the temptations of public life he has preserved a repu- 
tation untarnished even by a breath of suspicion. He loves work equally 
from an instinctive energy and from a sense of duty. 

Major Neely was elected Clerk of the House of Delegates of West Vir- 
ginia in 1911, and served efficiently for two years. He was elected to the 
Sixty-third Congress October 14, 1913, to fill the unexpired term of Hon. 
John W. Davis, who was appointed Solicitor-General of the United States, 
and was re-elected to the Sixty-fourth and the Sixty-fifth Congresses. His 
record in this highest legislative body in the world has been brilliant and 
satisfactory to his many personal and political friends. He is a member of 
the Judiciary and other important committees of the House of Repre- 
sentatives. 

Major Neely married Miss Alberta Claire Ramage of Fairmont October 21, 
1903. They have two sons and one daughter. He is a member of the 
Fairmont Lodge of Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons, and stands among 
the highly respected and enterprising citizens of that section of his native 
State. 

Major Neely was re-elected to Congress in the campaign of 1918. 


Col. Robert White 


Not tall, but well proportioned and perfectly erect; with high forehead 
and top of head entirely bald; hair and mustache gray; eyes steel blue, 
bright and penetrating; voice clear and strong; movement quick and some- 
what nervous; general appearance very much like that of a Prussian general, 
or a less portly reproduction of the Duke of Cambridge than like an Ameri- 
ean lawyer. Such is an off-hand portrait of Col. Robert White, one of the 
leading attorneys of the Wheeling Bar. He was a native of Romney, 
Hampshire County, Virginia. His great-grandfather, Robert White, was for 
years a surgeon in the. British army, but adopting America as his home, 
he, at a very early day, located in Virginia. He had two sons, Robert, the 
grandfather of the subject of this sketch, and Alexander, a younger brother. 
The former became a distinguished Judge and President of the General 
Court of Virginia, and remained in office about forty years. The latter 
was elected to the first session of the American Congress, and was re-elected 
several succeeding terms. John Baker White, son of Judge Robert White, 
and father of the*subject of this sketch, was Clerk of the County and 
Cireuit Courts of Hampshire for upwards of fifty years. He died in 1862, 
at an advanced age, retaining till the end the respect and esteem of all who 
knew him. Colonel White’s mother’s maiden name was Streit, daughter of 


COL. ROBERT WHITE 


396 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


the Rev. Christian Streit, a native of Pennsylvania, and an able and prom- 
inent minister of the Lutheran Church. She died in 1868 at her home in 
Romney. 

Colonel White was brought up at a time when educational facilities in 
Virginia were by no means advantageous. Public schools were indifferent, 
academies and colleges were scarce, and means of travel were slow, expen- 
sive and tiresome. In those days the few, and not the many, were thoroughly 
educated. Our subject was an ambitious young man, and by a resolute 
determination he succeeded in obtaining in public and private schools a 
thorough English training. He took up the study of law at his home, and 
after reading with care all the elementary books, attended the famous law 
school of the late Judge John W. Brockenbrough at Lexington, Virginia. 
Returning to Romney in 1854 he was admitted to the Bar, and began a legal 
career which uninterruptedly continued until his last fatal illness and death. 

In 1861 he entered the Confederate army as a Captain, and served 
through the war in various capacities, retiring with the rank of Colonel of 
volunteers. At the close of hostilities he returned to Romney and formed 
a law partnership with John J. Jacob, who afterwards became Governor 
of West Virginia. This partnership was dissolved in 1871. Col. White 
continued the practice of his profession at Romney until his election as 
Attorney-General of the State in 1876, when he located in Wheeling, where 
he continued to reside. He was a successful lawyer, an eloquent public 
speaker and received a fair share of the legal patronage in that portion 
of the State. The Colonel was an enthusiastic Free Mason. For years he 
devoted a large measure of his spare time to the workings of that time- 
honored Fraternity. He filled nearly all the offices in both the subordinate 
and Grand Lodges, including the exalted position of Grand Master of the 
State. In faith he was a Calvinist, and for many years had been a ruling 
elder in the Presbyterian Church. He was an active member of the State 
Bar Association for many years and was its President in 1914. He was 
one of the most genial of men, and if he ever had an enemy the writer 
never heard of him. He was eighty-three at the time of his death. 


Hon. William Goshorn Caldwell, Ph.B., LL.B. 


The law firm of Caldwell & Caldwell stands among the ablest and best 
known of the many successful practicing lawyers in the City of Wheeling 
in the northern portion of West Virginia. The subject of this sketch is 
the junior member of Caldwell & Caldwell, Attorneys and Counselors-at- 
Law. The senior member is the Honorable Alfred Caldwell, whose brief 
history appears in another portion of this volume. 

William G. Caldwell, son of Alfred and Laura E. (Goshorn) Caldwell, 
was born in Wheeling, Ohio County, West Virginia, July 3, 1872. He grad- 
uated at Linsly Institute in 1890, a high grade academy of Wheeling, over 
one hundred years old; also graduated from Yale University in 1895; 


HON. WILLIAM G. CALDWELL 


398 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


graduated from West Virginia University in 1896, taking the degree of 
Bachelor of Philosophy, and graduated in the Law Department of the 
University of Virginia at Charlottesville in the class of 1897, receiving the 
degree of Bachelor of Laws. Very few young men, if indeed any, started 
in life with a better equipment, educationally speaking, than he received. 
Possessing a real knowledge of legal principles he started life with a sure 
guaranty of success. After receiving his diploma he returned to Wheeling, 
and in the fall of 1897 he was admitted to membership in the Ohio County 
Bar, and in partnership with his father, who had served eight years as 
Attorney-General of the State, a leading lawyer of Wheeling, who possessed 
a large and lucrative practice, young Caldwell started out as a most 
promising ‘‘ limb of the law,’’ and we are glad to state has made good. 
He has a keen, incisive mind, catches points quickly and tries cases ably 
and successfully. He, therefore, stands high as an advocate; is both witty 
and humorous and has a good all-round standing at the Wheeling Bar. 
He has not yet attained to his best, although he must be classed as a 
success and is rising all the while. His law firm does not specialize in any 
particular branch of the law but covers all the branches of the profession 
in all the State and Federal Courts; possesses a large profitable clientage 
and is busy from morn till night every working day in the week. 

Mr. Caldwell is rather small of stature, has bright, sparkling eyes, strong 
features, and his whole aspect is full of force. He keeps up with both 
court decisions and textbook writers, and is at all times abreast of the 
rapid movements of the times. He is square in all of his acts, keeps his 
word sacredly and has the confidence of the people. He is a Republican 
in his political convictions, but devotes practically all of his time to his 
profession. His main purpose is to make himself an erudite lawyer, which 
he is doing splendidly. The only public offices he ever held were member 
of the City Council of Wheeling and a member of the House of Delegates 
of West Virginia, in both of which offices he rendered faithful and efficient 
service. He had views to express on all the important questions that arose 
in both the legislative bodies of which he was a member, and he never 
failed to assert himself and explain where he stood. ‘‘ His banner was 
always hanging on the outer wall.’’ 

He has never married and, therefore, resides in the home of his father 
and mother in the City of Wheeling on the banks of the majestic Ohio 
River, which sweeps past his home in its meandering way to the sea. When 
he will join ‘‘ The Benedicts ’’ is still an open question among even those 
who know him best. 


Judge James William Ewing, LL.B. 


Judge Ewing is one of the able, middle-aged, remarkably successful 
lawyers of the city of Wheeling. He followed in the foot-steps of his 
father, who was learned in the profession, from whom, no doubt, he inherited 
many of the habits and intuitions that guided him to success in the learned 
profession ‘of the law. He was born at Moundsville, Marshall County, 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 399 


West Virginia, October 25, 1869. His parents removed to Wheeling in 1879, 
where he attended the High School, and later graduated from Linsley Insti- 
tute, a high grade classical academy in the city of Wheeling, in the class 
of 1887. He then attended the University of Virginia in 1893 and 1894, and 
graduated from the Law Department of that institution, in the class of 
1894, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He, however, read law under 
a private tutor at Charleston, the Capital of the State, while he was Private 
Secretary to Governor Fleming in the early nineties, and before he attended 
the University of Virginia, and was admitted in 1893 as a member of the 
Wheeling Bar. After his graduation from the University of Virginia, in 
1894, he returned to Wheeling and entered his father’s law firm as the 
junior member, and has been engaged in almost constant practice since 
that time. 

In 1915 he served six months as Postmaster of Wheeling to fill a tem- 
porary vacancy. In 1916 one of the Circuit Judges of the First Judicial 
Circuit suffered for several months with a serious illness and Mr. Ewing 
was elected by the Bar to serve in his stead. He filled the office ably and 
efficiently and to the entire satisfaction of both lawyers and litigants. In 
1914 he was the nominee of the Democratic party for the seat of a Justice 
on the Supreme Court of Appeals of the State, a position, it is universally 
conceded, he was amply equipped to fill with honor to himself and credit 
to the State, and was defeated by his Republican opponent. There are but 
few, if any, more learned lawyers in West Virginia than he, and none are 
more upright, honorable and conscientious. Since his father’s death he has 
practiced law exclusively on his own account, and has a large clientele, 
which is steadily on the increase. : 

Judge Ewing was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Rogers, of 
Wheeling, June 10, 1910. One son is the result of this union. He is a 
communicant of the Episcopal Church, a member of the Masonic Order, the 
West Virginia and American Bar Associations, the Wheeling Rotary Club, 
and the Phi Gamma Delta College Fraternity. He enjoys great popularity 
wherever he is known. 


Branty C. Eakle 


Among the active attorneys of the Clay County Bar we find the name 
of the subject of this sketch the son of John EH. and Nancy E. Hakle, 
who is a native of West Union, Doddridge County, West Virginia. He 
received his education in the public schools of Braxton County and at 
Shenandoah Collegiate Institute, Dayton, Virginia. He studied law, moved 
to Clay County and was admitted to the Bar in 1895, where he has estab- 
lished a profitable practice. He is a conscientious adviser, which meas- 
urably accounts for his success as a lawyer. He does not toil for ‘‘ revenue 
only,’’ but always seeks to do right and to see that substantial justice is 
meted out in the courts where he practices. Such attorneys are valuable 


400 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


in all communities and in the end never fail to be successful. Reward may 
be slow in coming, but it never fails in due course to reach one in the full- 
ness of time. Mr. Eakle’s practice is mainly in the Circuit Court of Clay 
and adjoining counties, but he frequently appears in the Federal Courts 
and in the Supreme Court of Appeals of the State. 

He was united in marriage with Miss Mary B. Lough, October 27, 1897, 
and three children are the result of this happy union. Their dwelling place 
is beside the rippling waters of the beautiful Elk River as it sweeps past 
their home on its meandering way to the sea. No more delightful, pic- 
turesque spot can scarcely anywhere else be found. 

Mr. Eakle is not only a safe counselor, and he is also a Christian gentle- 
man, being an active member of the Missionary Baptist Church, where he 
resides. He is also a member of the Masonic Fraternity and is a faithful 
exponent of the principles and teachings of that honorable and ancient 
institution. He is a leader of the Clay County Bar and enjoys the confi- 
dence and respect of the citizens of the county. As a lawyer he is calm, 
patient and practical, and he makes the dictates of duty the rule of his 
conduct. He is unswerving in his integrity and devotion to principle, 
conscientiously faithful to the interests of his clients and engages all the 
powers of his mind and all the energies of his nature in the elimination of 
truth and the vindication of justice. 


Thomas P. Ryan 


Mr. Ryan is the son of the Rev. Thomas P. Ryan, who was a prominent 
and influential Methodist preacher, for many years, in the West Virginia 
Annual Conference. The son was born October 15, 1869. He attended the 
common schools of his native section until he was qualified as a school 
teacher, which he zealously followed for several years. Whilst teaching 
in the publie schools he read law, devoting all of his spare hours, day and 
night, to the careful study of legal textbooks, until he was able to pass 
the required examinations for license to practice, and was admitted to the 
Roane County Bar in 1896 at Spencer, the seat of justice of the county. 
He has since that time devoted his entire time to the practice of his pro- 
fession, which has grown to large proportions and has extended into sey- 
eral surrounding counties. Whilst his practice is general, embracing all 
branches of the law in the State and Federal Courts, he has specialized in 
oil and gas, mines and minerals until he has attained a prominent rank in 
those classes of cases and is recognized as an authority in those lines of 
legal work. For years past he has been general counsel in West Virginia 
for several large producing oil and gas companies. 

Mr. Ryan is a man of more than ordinary natural ability, is a well 
informed lawyer, and his professional career has been unusually successful. 
His management of his cases is methodical and practical. He possesses a 
correct judgment and an accurate comprehension. To his clients he is a 
faithful counselor and does not deceive them with apparitions of false 


THOMAS P. RYAN 


402 Bench and Bar of West Virgima 


hopes or specious inducements to unjust or fruitless litigations; but on the 
contrary he is sincere in his dealings with them and they trust him with 
implicit faith. He is a strong trial lawyer; his mind is analytical and is, 
therefore, able to eliminate truth from the speciousness of circumstances. 
These qualifications, enhanced by habits of self-reliance and independence 
of thought, make him formidable in the trial of important causes. He has 
a large practice in the Supreme Court of Appeals of the State. 

He married Miss Fannie Drennen, July 20, 1889; is a member of the 
different branches of Free Masons, the Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias. 

In polities he is a Republican, but has never held a political office. 


Harry Otis Hiteshew 


Among the younger, successful and growing lawyers of the Wood County, 
West Virginia Bar, the subject of this sketch must be classed. His parents 
are Isaac W. and Columbia A. Hiteshew. He was born in the City of 
Parkersburg, West Virginia, November 12, 1882, and was educated in the 
publie schools of that city, graduating from the High School. Later he 
entered the Law Department of the West Virginia University, where he 
received a thorough legal education. He was admitted to membership of 
the Monongalia County Bar in 1903 and practiced his profession in Mor- 
gantown for one year. He then changed his residence to Parkersburg, the 
place of his nativity, opened a law office and has there practiced unin- 
terruptly until the present time. In politics he is a Republican, but he has 
never sought an office except that of Prosecuting Attorney of his native 
county, which is in the direct line of his profession. He was nominated 
and elected to that office during the fall of 1908 and served therein from 
January 1, 1909, to December 31, 1913, and was re-elected to the same 
office in 1912 for another four years’ term. He was conscientious and 
energetic in the discharge of his official duties, and thus established a 
record as an able and fearless prosecutor of all violators of the laws of the 
State and county. By nature he is kindly disposed, but he saw to it that 
no guilty person was allowed to go unpunished or unwhipped of justice. 
During these eight years he established a record as an able and yigorous 
trial lawyer. 

Mr. Hiteshew is a member of the firm of Kreps, Russell & Hiteshew, a 
well-established law firm of Parkersburg, whose practice embraces ail 
branches of the profession in all the State and Federal Courts in West 
Virginia. As a lawyer Mr. Hiteshew is habitually calm, patient and prac- 
tical and makes the dictates of duty the rule of his conduct. He is 
unswerving in his integrity and devotion to principle, conscientiously faith- 
ful to the interests of his clients, and engages all the powers of his mind 
and all the energies of his nature in the elimination of truth and the vindi- 
cation of justice. These well-known features of his character engage con- 
fidence in him as a lawyer and respect for him as a man. 


HARRY O. HITESHEW 


404 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


He was united’ in marriage with Miss Ethel S. White, daughter of former 
Governor A. B. White, April 26, 1910. They have one child — Grace Tal- 
bott Hiteshew. Mr. Hiteshew is a member of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church, is also a Free Mason and an Elk and is a member of the Kappa 
Alpha Greek letter fraternity. 


Hon. George E. White, LL.B. 


Senator White is the son of Clark and Katherine (Rohrbough) White, 
who was born at Freemansburg, Lewis County, West Virginia, November 
4, 1884, and was educated at Broaddus Institute, Clarksburg, West Vir- 
ginia, the West Virginia University, and the University of Virginia. He, 
therefore, possessed all the advantages that these long established schools 
ot learning could give to an aspiring young man. The Law Department 
of the Virginia University at Charlottesville has long been recognized as 
a leading school to educate lawyers in the entire Southland, if not indeed 
in the entire country. So our subject started his professional life well 
equipped, educationally speaking, as one could obtain to make himself felt 
and appreciated in future years. After graduating he was promptly 
admitted to the Lewis County, West Virginia, Bar in 1909, where he began 
a successful legal career and where he has since practiced. 

His force of will, self-reliance and courage are more than common. 
Upon whatever duty he entered he threw into it his resolute will and never 
failed when he should have succeeded. He had the courage of his con- 
victions and never lowered his arm when he felt that duty urged him 
forward. He applied the law, as he had learned it at the feet of learned 
law teachers, in the preparation of his cases, and such a practitioner is 
rarely driven from a position that he takes in the trial of an important 
cause in any court of justice. Such are the ones who win and rarely fail. 
His practice is of a general character and extends into all the State and 
Federal Courts. He is yet comparatively young in years and his future is 
bright with promise. 

In early life he showed a liking for politics. He was the candidate of 
the Republican party for a seat in the State Senate in 1912, was elected 
and served four faithful years therein and rendered efficient and satis- 
factory service. He proved himself a very useful legislator; was always 
in his seat and took an active interest in all bills that came up for action 
by the Senate. He has been editor of The Weston Independent, a Repub- 
lican newspaper, since 1915, and is an apt and interesting writer. 

“In 1914 he was nominated for a seat in the American Congress from the 
old First Congressional District, but was defeated by a small majority. 
Since then he has devoted all of his time to his profession. He is a mem- 
ber of the Masonic, K. of P. and Elk Fraternities. Also the Greek letter 
“< Frats ’’ of Delta Chi, Sigma Chi and T. N. E. He is married, has two 
children and resides in the City of Weston. 


HON. GEORGE E. WHITE 


406 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


John M. Baker, LL.B. 


Our subject is a son of D. M. and Mary E. (Johnson) Baker, who was 
born in Jackson County, West Virginia, November 22, 1872, and received 
his preliminary education in the public schools of his native county. Later, 
in 1892, he was a student in the State Normal School at Fairmont, West 
Virginia, and in 1895 and 1896 he took the course in law at the West Vir- 
ginia University at Morgantown and graduated therefrom with the degree 
of Bachelor of Laws. The year of his graduation he was admitted as a 
practitioner in the Circuit Court of his native county at Ripley, the county 
seat. Shortly thereafter he was admitted as an attorney in all the State 
and Federal Courts, his practice in the meanwhile grew rapidly until he 
has all the business he can attend to. He is an excellent trial lawyer and 
never fails to acquit himself creditably in the trial of his cases. 

He is a Republican in politics and has been active in promulgating the 
principles of his party, but not in the sense of an office-seeker. He is public- 
spirited and shows an interest in the growth and development of his section 
of the State, and has been urged to accept official positions, but he pre- 
fers to devote his entire time to the practice of the law. The only office 
he has thus far held was Prosecuting Attorney of Jackson County, which 
he filled satisfactorily, industriously and ably for a four years’ term, from 
1905 to 1908, inclusive. For business reasons he moved his residence from 
Jackson to Roane County in 1909, where he now resides, and where his 
practice has materially increased and his field of labor has greatly widened. 
He has frequently presided as a Special Judge of the Circuit Court, and on 
one occasion he held the entire term in Calhoun County to the satisfaction 
of lawyers and suitors. This fact gave rise to general talk to induce him 
to become a candidate for Circuit Judge, which he has thus far declined 
to do. He is careful, clear-headed, systematic, vigilant and thorough in 
his work, and although he has made excellent headway in his profession 
there is still a broader field of usefulness and success before him. 

Mr. Baker married Miss Jessie N. Riley, of Jackson County, in 1899, 
and as a result of this union a son — Clay Riley —and a daughter — Mary 
V.—were born to them. He is a member of. the Masonie Fraternity 
and is also a Knight of Pythias. He has devoted much time to the cause 
of education and has served efficiently on Boards of Education. He also 
gives a large amount of thought and attention to civic matters generally. 
In short he is an enterprising, publie-spirited, progressive citizen of the 
community where he resides. 


BAKER 


JOHN M. 


408 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Hon. George Jackson Arnold 


George Jackson Arnold, one of the able and early advocates of the new 
State west of the Alleghenies, was born in Culpeper County, Virginia, 
March 16, 1816. He removed to Lewis County in 1830, where he resided 
until the time of his death. He read law late in life and was admitted to 
the Bar in 1848; was elected to the office of Prosecuting Attorney of Lewis 
County in 1852 and again in 1856 — serving eight years in a most satis- 
factory manner. In 1861 he was elected to the Legislature of Virginia. 
The war coming on, Mr. Arnold, being opposed to secession, went as a dele- 
gate to Wheeling in July, 1861, where the Legislature of the Restored 
Government of Virginia was in session. He was placed on the committee 
to prepare a bill for the formation of a new State, and gave the movement 
his hearty support. He was the draughtsman of the bill that gave us the 
new State of West Virginia. During that interesting session he partici- 
pated in all of the debates with great fearlessness, and may be justly 
regarded as one of the old State’s reorganizers in the dark days of war, 
having voted for the Union and taken that side of the question which 
made a new State an imperative necessity. His services to his country 
in those months wuen the flag needed friends and protectors were of great 
value and were highly appreciated. He retired to private life after West 
Virginia was made a State, and remained in the peaceful practice of his 
profession and in farming and stock-raising until 1878, when he was 
elected to the House of Delegates of West Virginia, and took an active 
part in the sessions of 1878 and 1879. On his return home he declined to 
be a candidate for re-election. 

While engaged in the practice of his profession he made our land laws 
and land titles a specialty, and upon questions pertaining to them his 
opinions were entitled to great weight. Indeed he maintained a very high 
rank in that branch of the profession. Mr. Arnold was at one time an 
independent candidate for Judge of the Highth Judicial Cireuit, but was 
defeated. He held the opinion that a judge ought not to be elected as a 
partisan, but should be in all respects independent of party and party 
action. He issued a circular letter to the veters of the circuit, from which 
we excerpt one paragraph, which shows the true character of the man and 
reveals the fact that he was the right kind of material out of which to 
make a judge: 

‘“ My opinion always has been and is now, that a Judge, to be upright, 
impartial and just in his decisions, should divest himself of all prejudice, 
both personal and political, and mete out the law alike to all persons, 
whether of one party or another, whether rich or poor, exalted or humble — 
in other words, that in dispensing justice, he should ‘ know no man.’ He 
should never suffer himself to lend his position in order to promote party 
ends, or use his office as an engine of oppression, or to gratify feelings of 
revenge. ’’ 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 409 


Mr. Arnold quit the practice of law and removed to one of his large 
grazing farms on the npper West Fork of the Monongahela River. He 
was one of the largest landowners in West Virginia, and made _ stock- 
raising a special study. The farm on which he resided was a magnificent 
boundary of rich grazing land, which he kept under a high state of culti- 
vation. Passing through it, it was not an uncommon sight to see his short- 
horned cattle grazing upon, not a thousand, but almost a hundred hills. 
He was in all respects a model farmer and grazier. He was perhaps by 
odds the largest stock-raiser in West Virginia and was classed among our 
wealthiest citizens. 

Mr. Arnold was a man of large information and kept posted on the 
progress of affairs. He was practical in every respect and was ecnaritable 
to the sick and the poor. His door was ever open to generous hospitality. 
He was more than an octogenerian at the time of his death. 


Joseph R. Curl 


Our subject is a native of Washington City, District of Columbia, and 
was born December 29, 1886. He was graduated from the Business High 
School of that city in 1902. He then attended George Washington Uni- 
versity of the same city, from which he graduated in the classical course 
in 1909, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Later he graduated 
from the Law Department of the same University in 1911, taking the 
degree of Bachelor of Laws. Shortly thereafter he located in the City of 
Wheeling, West Virginia, and became a member of the law firm of Erskine, 
Campbell & Curl, and entered upon a prosperous and promising career as 
a ‘‘ limb of the law.’’ He practices in all of the ‘‘ Pan Handle ’’ counties 
of Marshall, Ohio, Brooke and Hancock, in which his firm conducts a large 
volume of business, which give Mr. Curl constant employment. He was 
thoroughly educated and possesses energy and tact, and the result is 
unusual success in the trial of important causes as well as the preparation 
of pleadings. He possesses self-reliance and self-assertion in a large degree, 
which serve him well in court trials and prevent him from being thrown 
off his balance when confronted by opposing counsel with controverted 
questions of law. For one of his years as a practicing attorney he should 
be classed far above the average of lawyers and bespeak for him great 
possibilities in the years to come. He is a man of integrity and good 
morals and is courteous, generous and kind and maintains a high standing 
among friends and associates. 

When war was declared by the United States against the German Empire 
he was among the first of our West Virginia lawyers to volunteer his 
service to the cause of liberty and the universal freedom of all the nations 
beneath the stars; and is now, as a First Lieutenant in the United States 
Army, in the trenches and on the fields of France and Belgium, backing 


410 Bench and Bar of West Virgina 

ol de ee ee SE ee 
the Stars and Stripes, which is the emblem of Liberty the wide world over, 
and is as sure to win at the wind-up as there is a ‘‘ Got in himmel,’’ and 
we firmly believe there is. ‘‘ Justice moves with a leaden foot, but strikes 
at last wita an iron hand.’’? When this cruel war is over we shall hope to 
see our friend back among his friends, at his desk and in the court- 
rooms, all tne better because of his experience in aiding to wipe the soul- 
less Hun Rulers from the face of the earth. 

Mr. Curl married Miss Lucie Hood, December 6, 1917. They have no 
children. He is a member of the West Virginia Bar Association and of 
the Sigma Phi Epsilon Greek letter Fraternity. In politics he is a Demo- 
erat and has never held a public office of any sort. His parents are Edward 
C. and Ella Fowler Curl. 


Jedediah Waldo Robinson, A.B., LL.B. 


Jedediah Waldo Robinson, of Grafton, son of Frank P. Robinson, Presi- 
dent of Taylor County Court, and Elizabeth C. (Hull) Robinson, deceased, 
was born near Grafton in 1881. He attended a country school, the Grafton 
High School and the West Virginia University, from which latter insti- 
tution he received the degrees of A.B. in 1905 and LL.B. in 1906. While 
in college he was elected to the English Club and the Mountain, the only 
scholarship and honorary societies then at the University, and was editor 
of the college weekly and a member of the Sigma Nu Fraternity. He was 
admitted to the Bar of Taylor County in 1906, and later in other counties, 
and in the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, also the Federal 
District and Circuit Courts and Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fourth 
Circuit. He began to practice with Hon. Iva E. Robinson, who later became 
a Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeals, and is now associated with 
Hon. Hugh Warder, Ex-Member of the West Virginia House of Delegates, 
as the firm of Warder & Robinson, engaging in general practice. They are 
attorneys for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company and other important 
clients. 

Mr. Robinson was married in 1909 to Sarah C. Poe and has three sons, 
William, James and Charles. He has membership in the County, State and 
American Bar Associations, American Institute of Criminal Law and Crim- 
inology and American Judicature Society; is a member of the Interstate 
Executive Committee of the Young Men’s Christian Association for Dela- 
ware, Maryland, West Virginia and the District of Columbia; an official 
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and President of the Grafton 
Young Men’s Christian Association and Grafton Business Men’s Associa- 
tion. In war activities he is County Chairman of the Young Men’s Christian 
Association War Fund Campaigns, a ‘‘Four Minute Man,’’ a member of the 
County Council of Defense, a District Chairman in the War Savings and 
Liberty Bond Campaigns, a member of the Executive Committee of the local 


JEDEDIAH W. ROBINSON 


412 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Red Cross and an associate member of the Legal Advisory Board. Mrs. 
Robinson is Chairman of the Taylor County Woman’s Liberty Loan Com- 
mittee. Masonically Mr. Robinson is a Past Master, former District Deputy 
Grand Master, Past High Priest, Commander of Knights Templar, Scottish 
Rite Mason and Shriner. He is also a Moose and Modern Woodman. He is 
a Republican in politics. 

My. Robinson is a young man of clean character, and is honorable and 
upright in all his acts. He is a hard student and has kept abreast of 
textbooks and court decisions. He has dignified the profession by exhibiting 
in his practice the highest type of integrity, fidelity, learning and wisdom. 
His history as a man and attorney is a record of manliness complete in 
every detail. He belongs to a class of men that always succeed in all laud- 
able undertakings. He already has a profitable clientage. 


William K. Cowden 


Our subject, a well-known and successtul member of the Huntington, 
West Virginia, Bar, is the son of William N. and Deborah (Laughlin) 
Cowden, and was born at Quaker City, Ohio, September 17, 1869. His 
younger years were spent on his father’s farm in eastern Ohio, and in 
attending the public schools of that locality, where he received a fairly 
good rudimentary education. He then became a student at Wooster Uni- 
versity, Wooster, Ohio, where he remained for some time, pursuing the 
higher branches of learning. He became interested in civil engineering 
and land surveying, and followed that occupation for some time. In the 
mean time he decided to take up law as a profession, and accordingly 
entered the law office of C. J. Howard, Esq., of Barnesville, Ohio, and began 
a systematic course of textbook studies. From there he went to Wheeling, 
West Virginia, and pursued his law studies under the tutelage of his cousin, 
the late William J. W. Cowden, and George W. Atkinson, who afterwards 
became Governor of West Virginia. He was an earnest, faithful student 
under their direction, until 1892, when he passed a satisfactory examination 
before three Judges, and was promptly received as a member of the Wheel- 
ing Bar. The next year (1893) he was admitted as an attorney in the 
State of Ohio. He then visited a number of cities and towns, with the 
view of selecting a permanent location. In 1894 he settled upon Huntington 
for his future home, where he opened a law office, and has been there ever 
since. He soon began to prosper, because he was industrious, attentive to 
business, thoroughly honest, reliable, conscientious and trustworthy. He 
has participated in many important litigations in the State and United 
States Courts, and controls a prominent and influential clientage. In addi- 
tion to an extensive law practice, he is interested in a number of business 
enterprises in the growing city of Huntington, where he has gained recog- 
nition as a conscientious lawyer and a publie spirited citizen. He is devoted 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 415 


to his profession, pleasant in his address and demeanor, is sociable and 
agreeable, and above all, he is an honorable Christian gentleman. 

Although a Democrat, he takes but little interest in politics, has never 
held an office, and has never asked for one. He prefers to give his entire 
time and thought to his profession. He, however, enjoys supporting 
his friends who have a taste and desire for office seeking. The time he 
has to spare from his court and office work he devotes to the Presbyterian 
‘Church, of which he is a member, and the Masonic Fraternity, in which he 
holds high rank. He is Deputy Grand Master of the M. W. Grand Lodge 
of Masons, and in a year or so more, if he lives, he will reach the highest 
honor in the gift of that world-famed institution, Grand Master of the 
Grand Lodge of West Virginia. He has already been Grand High Priest 
of the Grand Royal Arch Chapter of the State. 

In 1895 Mr. Cowden married Miss Mamie G. Riggle of Fairview, Ohio, 
and they have three children. Their home is in Huntington, where they 
are enjoying a happy and prosperous life. ! 


Burrell Kemp Littlepage, LL.B. 


Among the strong, well equipped and promising young lawyers of the 
Charleston Bar must be mentioned the subject of this sketch. He is the 
son of the late Judge Samuel D. and Mollie Kemp Littlepage, and was born 
in Charleston, West Virginia, June 28, 1888. He was a student in the public 
schools of his native city during his earlier years. Later he attended 
St. John’s Manlius Military Institute, Syracuse, New York. where he was 
taught the branches of study not available in the Charleston High School 
curriculum. Later he entered the Law Department of the West Virginia 
University, from which he graduated in the class of 1910, and in 1911 he 
was awarded the degree of Bachelor of Laws. The year of his graduation 
he was admitted as a member of the Kanawha County Bar, and also to 
membership of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia and the 
United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia. 
He promptly entered the law firm of Littlepage, Littlepage & Littlepage, 
composed of the Honorable Adam B. Littlepage, now a member of Congress 
from the Kanawha District, himself and Collett Littlepage, and has become 
a well-known, aggressive and successful member of the Charleston Bar. 

President Eliot, of Harvard University, aptly said, in defining education: 
‘*Ability to earn, power to learn, and the faculty of looking forward are 
the three capacities requisite for success in any calling in life.’’ Judging 
from the advancement Mr. Littlepage has made during the eight years he 
has been engaged in the practice of the law, we believe he possesses, in a 
marked degree, these three elements. At least. it is safe for us to state 
that he has, thus far, made a good showing in all of them. His diligence, 
energy and fidelity to the interests of his clients have won for him already 


414 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


remunerative pecuniary rewards. He has rapidly gained strength by experi- 
ence. With his pleasant address and kindly disposition have gone no 
shadow of weakness or lack of decision; but, on the contrary, his self- 
reliance and proper self-assertion are a part of his nature, that are neces- 
sary to his own self-respect, which command the respect of others. 

Mr. Littlepage is a member of the Democratic party, which is in line with 
the traditions of the Littlepage family to the third generation. He has 
exhibited an early liking for the game of politics. His first political office 
was that of Councilman for the city of Charleston, and he made a good one, 
because he attended to the duties of the position, and is fearless in demand- 
ing what he believes to be just and right. His next move was to become 
Prosecuting Attorney of Kanawha County. He sought the nomination for 
the same in 1916, and although his party was largely in the minority in 
the county, he was elected by a surprisingly large majority. He entered 
upon the duties of this highly important office January 1, 1917, and is 
‘proving himself to be an efficient and satisfactory incumbent of the office. 
He knows the law, and the art of prosecuting violators of the statutes, and 
is fearless and courageous enough to properly enforce them. He is doing, 
in a proper manner, what the people expected at his hands when they 
elected him. 

In 1912 he was united in marriage with Miss Madge K. Robins, of 
Charleston, daughter of Dr. J. E. Robins, and they have two children. He is 
a Mason, an Elk, and is a member of the Sigma Chi Greek Letter College 
Fraternity. 


James D. Parriott 


Our subject was born at New Martinsville, Wetzel County, West Virginia, 
June 16, 1880, and is the son of the Rev. George W. and Jane (Clark) 
Parriott. He received his education in the publie schools of Marshall 
County and in the High School at Mannington, Marion County, of his 
native State. Later he entered the Law Department of the West Virginia 
University, from which he graduated in the class of 1909. He was admitted 
to the Moundsville, Marshall County, Bar in July, 1909, where he has since 
practiced with a marked degree of success. His office is at Moundsville, but 
his practice has extended into the adjoining counties and has become quite 
lucrative for a lawyer of his years. 

Mr. Parriott is an industrious, well-equipped young lawyer, and is honest 
and upright in both thought and purpose, elements which are absolutely 
essential to permanent success in any business or calling in life. He has 
gained strength and standing by experience and associations, and in the 
same proportion his business has grown to satisfactory proportions for an 
attorney of his years. He has, therefore, it may be said, passed the experi- 
mental stage in his professional career. 


PARRIOTT 


D 


MES 


JA 


416 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Mr. Parriott is a Republican in politics, but his record shows that he 
prefers to be a lawyer instead of a politician, because he has never aspired 
to office except that of Prosecuting Attorney of Marshall County, which is 
strictly in the line of his profession, except one position, that of County 
Superintendent of Public Schools, which he held from 1903 to 1907, before 
he began to practice law. He was nominated and elected to the office of 
County Prosecutor in 1912, and filled that responsible legal office with such 
a degree of satisfaction that he was re-elected to the same office in 1916, 
and is now serving his second four years’ term, ably and efficiently. He has 
shown himself to be a satisfactory officer for the people, who prosecutes all 
violators of the law, without fear or favor, and has seen to it that no 
guilty person has escaped. He has, therefore, made a clean record in that 
responsible position worthy of emulation by others in the same line of the 
publi service. ’ 

Mr. Parriott married Miss Bessie Sadler, of Point Marion, Pennsylvania, 
in 1910, and is the father of two children. He is a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of 
Pythias and of the Sigma Nu Greek Letter Fraternity. He resides at the 
city of Moundsville, where he is well known and is regarded as an honorable, 
upright Christian gentleman. 


Henry Bedinger Davenport, LL.B., C.E. 


The subject of this sketch was born at Auvergne, near Paris, Kentucky, 
February 11, 1865. His father was Henry B. Davenport, son of Braxton 
Davenport, and Elizabeth Bedinger, the latter a daughter of Major Henry 
Bedinger of Revolutionary fame, and for many years a man of distinction . 
in Berkeley County, this State. Braxton Davenport was Colonel of militia 
in Jefferson County, Virginia, for many years; was also a member of the 
House of Delegates in Virginia, and held numerous other offices of trust 
and responsibility; and was presiding magistrate of the court which com- 
mitted John Brown of Harpers Ferry fame to jail. 

Henry B. Davenport, the father of the subject of this sketch, was edu- 
cated at the University of Virginia. He served as a Lieutenant of the 
Stonewall Brigade in the Confederate Army. He died in 1901 and is buried 
at Charles Town, this State. His epitaph, ‘‘A Soldier of the Stonewall 
Brigade,’’ is at once a eulogy and a biography; he was born September 9, 
1831. In 1860 he married Martha Clay, the mother of the subject of this 
sketch. She was a daughter of Brutus J. Clay of Bourbon County, Ken- 
tucky, who was a brother of General Cassius Marcellus Clay, some time 
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the court of Russia. 
Brutus J. Clay represented the Lexington District of Kentucky in the 
House of Representatives at Washington during two terms, 1861 to 1865, 
although a large slaveholder. 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 417 


Our subject was educated at the Charles Town Academy; St. John’s 
College at Annapolis, Maryland; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at Troy, 
New York, from which he graduated with the degree of Civil Engineer in 
1886; University of Virginia, where he took a special course in applied 
mathematics; and the University of West Virginia, where he graduated in 
law in 1884. Upon graduating from the last mentioned University, he 
removed to Clay, West Virginia, where he practiced law for twenty years, 
his practice being in the Circuit Courts of this State, in the Supreme Court 
of Appeals, and in the United States District and Circuit Courts at Charles- 
ton. January 1, 1916, Mr. Davenport retired from the practice of the law 
to devote his entire time to his private business, being largely engaged in 
the development of the oil and gas resources of Clay County. He married 
Alma F. Stephenson, daughter of Thomas Benton Stephenson, January 22, 
1902, to which union there has been born Benton Stephenson Davenport, 
aged 15 years, and Braxton Davenport, aged 9 years. Mr. Davenport lives 
at Clay C. H. with his family. In 1904 he was the nominee on the Demo- 
cratic ticket for Member of Congress from the Third Congressional District, 
but was defeated by Hon. Joseph H. Gaines. Mr. Davenport has several 
times been Mayor of Clay C. H., and has been at various times member 
of executive committees of the Democratic party for senatorial, judicial and 
congressional districts. 

He is a member of the Masonic Fraternity, being a Blue Lodge Mason, 
a Knight Templar and a Shriner. He has also taken fourteen degrees in 
Scottish Right Masonry. Mr. Davenport is at present Secretary of the 
Local Board for Clay County, and since May, 1917, has devoted almost his 
entire time, free of compensation, to the raising of an army for service 
abroad. 

After his graduation as a civil engineer in 1886, Mr. Davenport followed 
that profession until 1893, when he entered the law school at Morgantown. 
As an engineer he saw service on the Norfolk & Western Railroad; the 
Cleveland, Akron & Columbus Railroad, and as an engineer in the construc- 
tion of levees along the Mississippi River in Bolivar County, Mississippi. 
He also served two years as Professor of Civil Engineering in the University 
at Morgantown. As a lawyer he was engaged in most of the important 
eases before the Circuit Court of Clay County during the past twenty years. 
Without undue adulation it may be said that he has been a success as an 
engineer, a lawyer and a business man, having accumulated a comfortable 
fortune as the result of industry, perseverance and business acumen. He is 
a man of the strictest integrity, and has the confidence and respect of all 
the people with whom he associates, and stands high in the legal profession. 


14 


418 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


John Marshall, M.A., LL.B. 


One of our West Virginia young lawyers who has already ‘‘made good,’’” 
and who is still rising rapidly in the ranks of his profession, is the subject 
of this sketch. His father, Hon. Oliver S. Marshall, is also a lawyer of 
prominence. Our subject was born in New Cumberland, Hancock County, 
West Virginia, July 28, 1881. He attended the public schools of his native 
town; graduated A.B. and A.M. at Bethany College; also graduated in the 
full classical course at Yale University, taking the degree of Bachelor of 
Arts. He then entered the Law Department of the West Virginia Univer- 
sity, and graduated, cum laude, as an LL.B. But few young men of this, 
or any other State, started out in a profession with a higher grade education, 
and no young man of our acquaintance has made better use of it than this 
young man Marshall. 

He was admitted as a member of the New Cumberland Bar in 1903, and 
the following year moved to Parkersburg, West Virginia, which offered a 
wider field of opportunity, where he still resides, and where he has estab- 
lished himself as one of its foremost barristers. His present law firm is 
composed of himself and former Judge Charles D. Forrer. His firm prac- 
tices in all of the courts of the State, and in the Federal Courts as well, 
and embraces all important branches of litigation known to the law in 
West Virginia. 

For a number of years Mr. Marshall held the office of Assistant United 
States Attorney for the Northern District of West Virginia, and demeaned 
himself as an able and erudite lawyer. Being a Republican, when the 
National administration changed he was succeeded in 1913 by a Democrat. 
He is a fluent and forceful public speaker, and is a refined, cultured gentle- 
man, possessing all the elements of popularity before the people. Our 
candid opinion is, there is a distinguished future in store for him in the 
years to come. His portrait shows him to be a neat, clear-cut and handsome 
young man, with firmness and fairness clearly developed in every line of his 
countenance. 

He married Miss Rebecca C. Paull, the accomplished granddaughter of the 
late Judge James Paull, of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, 
by whom he has two children—John Marshall, Jr., and Joseph Paull 
Marshall, who make up a pleasant, and, indeed, happy household. 


CL, 


ee aa 


Shyer def k & 


JOHN MARSHALL 


420 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Mason G. Ambler, LL.B. 


My. Ambler is the junior member of the strong law firm of Van Winkle 
and Ambler, of Parkersburg, Wood County, at the confluence of the Little 
Kanawha River with the Ohio. He is a son of B. Mason Ambler, one of 
the noted, high grade lawyers of West Virginia, whose personal sketch 
appears on another page of this volume. The younger Ambler was born at 
Winchester, in the historic Valley of Virginia, August 27, 1876, and received 
his primary education in the public schools of Parkersburg, West Virginia. 
He then spent four years, from 1891 to 1895, as a student at the Episcopal 
Academy at Alexandria, Virginia, and ended up with a three years’ law 
course at the University of Virginia at Charlottesville, graduating in the 
class of 1899, and being awarded the degree of Bachelor of Laws. After 
leaving that institution, he returned to his home at Parkersburg, and in 
November of that year was admitted as a member of the Wood County Bar, 
where he immediately entered upon a successful career as an attorney-at-law. 
For five years he practiced alone, asking help of no one, and was succeeding 
in building up a very satisfactory practice, and in 1905 he was invited to 
become the junior member of the long-established partnership of Van 
Winkle and Ambler, composed of W. W. Van Winkle and his father, B. M. 
Ambler, as stated at the outset of this short sketch. He thus showed that 
he was amply able to make his own way without depending upon the help 
of any one. He possessed the inherent grit to ‘* paddle his own canoe,’’ 
which he has succeeded in doing in a most satisfactory manner. It was, 
perhaps, best for him, at the beginning of his professional career, to be 
thrown upon his own resources, because what one makes of himself, and 
not what he is made by the aid and influence of friends or family, is the 
most patent and prominent thought that arrests the attention and deepens 
the conviction of one’s fellow men. 

Mr. Ambler, like his father, is a Democrat in his political convictions, 
and also like his father, it may be justly said, is entirely freed from the 
virulence of party and the malignancy of faction, which constitute for the 
upright lawyer a just claim to be a leader of his fellow-men. Neither of 
them ever held a public office, and better still, neither of them ever asked 
for one at the hands of his party or his friends. Both of them prefer law 
to polities, and both of them prefer to be known as lawyers instead of 
place-hunters; they preferred to be eminent in their profession than to be 
exalted to high official stations. However, not all gifted men are thus 
constituted. But it is true of most all the great lawyers in the history of 
the past in all Republics. Great lawyers, as a rule, never allow themselves 
to get plastered with office-holding tar. Nowadays men to become masters 
in any calling, must not allow their minds to become divided. 

Mr. Ambler has been admitted as a practitioner in all the State and 
Federal Courts; also in the States of Ohio and Virginia. As a lawyer he 
is patient and practical, and makes the dictates of duty the rule of his 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 421 


eonduct. He is unswerving in his integrity, and is ever faithful to the 
interests of his clients. His professional sun is just approaching its 
meridian, and although he has thus far run well, there is yet much on 
success awaiting him in the future. 

He has never married, is a communicant of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church, and in college was a Delta Psi. 


John Cotton Donnally, LL.B. 


Mr. Donnally is a native of Charleston, West Virginia, and is a son of 
William B. and Sallie Cotton Donnally, both of whom were also born and 
reared in the same city. The Donnallys were early settlers of the Kanawha 
Valley, and Dr. John T. Cotton, his grandfather, for whom our subject 
received his name, was one of the best known practicing physicians of 
Kanawha County for more than sixty years, and who departed this life 
at a little more than eighty years of age only a few years ago. 

Young Mr. Donnally was born June 8, 1885, and received his early train- 
ing in the Charleston schools, at Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, New 
Hampshire, where he took a thorough academic course, and in 1907 he was 
graduated from the Law Department of the University of Virginia, at 
Charlottesville, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He was admitted 
to the Kanawha County Bar the year of his graduation, and has since 
practiced in the State and Federal Courts. He is the junior member of the 
firm of Avis and Donnally, a well-known law firm in Charleston and the 
sonthern portion of West Virginia, the senior member being Captain S. B. 
Avis, who has been active in politics, as well as in the law, for a number of 
years past, and who at one time represented the Charleston District in the 
Congress of the United States. He is now acknowledged to be one of the 
strongest lawyers in the entire State. 

Mr. Donnally is well educated and is trustworthy and ambitious. He is 
a hard worker, and delights to go to the bottom of all cases entrusted to 
his care. By perseverance, energy and application, although young in years, 
he has become a good lawyer, and his future, which is sure to be brighter, 
is already fixed. He is thoroughly grounded in the technique of the law, 
and is methodical and painstaking in the preparation of pleadings. He is 
also conscientious and honorable in all of his dealings, which are the 
sine qua non to success in any calling in life. He is still unmarried, is a 
Demoerat in politics, but has never sought an office of any sort, preferring 
to devote his undivided efforts and energies to the study and practice of 
the law, in which he is admirably succeeding. He is of medium stature, and 
is well equipped in all branches of the law common to the courts of West 
Virginia. 

Shortly after war was declared by the United States against the German 
Empire, Mr. Donnally volunteered in the United States Army, and has been 
promoted to the rank of First Lieutenant, and is now at the front in 
France defending the flag of his country. He was seriously wounded in 
one of his legs in Northern France and is still confined in a hospital. 


422 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Bennett Randolph Bias 


My. Bias was born in Lincoln County, West Virginia, in 1879, son of 
Rolan A. Bias and Lucy C. Bias; was educated in county schools, Guyan- 
dotte High School, Marshall College, and West Virginia University; was 
admitted to the Bar in 1910. He practices in the various local and State 
Courts, Federal District Courts, Supreme Court of West Virginia and of 
the United States; married in 1910 to Clotilde Gaujot; has three children; 
is a member of no lodge; member of Phi Kappa Sigma Fraternity; affiliates 
with the Protestant Episcopal Church and the Republican party. 

His office and residence are at Williamson, Mingo County, where he has 
a large and rapidly increasing practice in all the State and Federal Courts 
of West Virginia, especially in the Supreme Court of Appeals. He is a 
safe and sane lawyer; is thoroughly reliable; is well and firmly grounded 
in the principles of the law; argues his cases with force and precision, and 
prepares them carefully; is a hard and constant worker, a superior pleader, 
and maintains a high rank as a trial lawyer. He in short is one of the 
best known and most successful lawyers in the southern section of the 
State. 

He is also one of the most useful and attentive members of the State Bar 
Association. In his earlier years he was Post Master of the city of William- 
son, and was an efficient officer. 


Dean Henry Craig Jones, A.B., LL.B. 


Dean Jones of the Law Faculty of our West Virginia University at 
Morgantown, son of John B. and Jennie (Craig) Jones, was born at Central 
City, Iowa, June 18, 1879; graduated A.B. from Cornell College, Iowa, in 
1900; also graduated A.B. from Harvard University, Boston, in 1903. In 
1906 he also graduated LL.B. from that University; was admitted to the 
Illinois Bar in 1906, and practiced successfully to and ineluding 1911 as a 
member of the law firm of Rubens, Fisher, Mosser and Rigby, of Chicago. 
At this time he reached the conclusion that it was preferable to be a law 
teacher than a practitioner, and accordingly accepted the position of mem- 
bership in the law faculty of Georgetown University, Washington, D. C., 
where he remained until 1914, when he was chosen Dean of the Law 
Department of the West Virginia University, where he is now serving with 
great acceptability and usefulness. His splendid education in all branches 
of the law, coupled with many natural gifts as a teacher and executive 
qualities, specially equip him for the work in which he is now engaged. 
During his short period of service in our State University he has made a 
deep impression upon the young lawyers who have attended his lectures, 
and the older members of the profession who have given attention to the 
splendid work he has done and is doing in lifting to a higher plane the 


DEAN HENRY CRAIG JONES 


424 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


standard of the lawyers in this Commonwealth. He is a young man of 
unbounded energy, as well as a man of great learning for one of his years. 
His record as an attorney and teacher is one of manliness complete in every 
detail. He is a man of marked personal appearance; is of good stature; 
his features strong, and his whole aspect full of force. His face, as shown 
by his portrait, is proof that he is a hard student, and keeps full abreast 
of the present progressive times in the methods of turning out real lawyers, 
and not mountebanks. charlatans and sheisters. When a young man receives 
a diploma from his hands, one may feel assured that the graduate will be 
well equipped in all the branches of the law. We do not mean to convey 
the idea that our former West Virginia law graduates are charlatans, but 
we do mean to say that the standard is much higher now than it has ever 
been in the past. What Dean Jones believes, he feels, and what he feels 
he speaks, and acts promptly, vigorously, and with conscientious candor. 

He is married, resides at Morgantown, the seat of the State University, 
and has the respect and confidence of the student body, the other members 
of the University faculty, as well as the community at large. He has been 
admitted to practice in all the courts of the State. 

At the July, 1918, meeting of the West Virginia Bar Association he was 
elected its President. He is also the responsible editor of ‘‘The West Vir- 
ginia Law Quarterly,’’ the organ of the Association. 


George P. Crockett 


Our subject is a son of R. G. Crockett, of Graham, Tazewell County, 
Virginia, and a younger brother of the late Z. W. Crockett, of Bluefield, 
West Virginia. He was born November 6, 1879. He graduated from the 
Graham High School, and later took the law course at the West Virginia 
University, graduating in the class of 1901, and in September of that year 
he was admitted to the Mercer County, West Virginia, Bar, where he has 
been in constant practice since that time. He formed a partnership in 1901 
with his older brother, Z. W. Crockett, which continued until 1907, when 
Judge Joseph M. Sanders was taken into the firm, thus creating one of the 
strongest law firms in the southern section of West Virginia, and also one 
of the most successful. Although Z. W. Crockett departed this life in 1915, 
the firm now is Sanders and Crockett. Their practice extends through the 
Cireuit Courts of southern West Virginia and southwest Virginia, the 
United States District Court of Southern West Virginia and the Supreme 
Court of Appeals of West Virginia, in all of these courts they have a very 
large and profitable business. As is true of all good lawyers, Mr. Crockett’s 
diligence, energy and fidelity to the interests of his clients soon won for 
him deserved success and remunerative pecuniary rewards. He is yet 
young, and is growing rapidly in his well chosen profession, so that the 
better and larger part of his life is still before him. 


GEORGE P. CROCKETT 


426 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Mr. Crockett is an active member of the West Virginia Bar Association, 
and, like his elder brother Zachariah, he has never married. 

He resides in the thrifty and rapidly developing city of Bluefield. 

Neither of the Crockett brothers ever held public office, and never sought 
one. Their undivided thoughts and time were given to the study and prac- 
tice of the law. Generally speaking, these are the kind of men that develop 
into eminent lawyers. 


Hon. Raymond Dodson, A.B., LL.B. 


Raymond Dodson, son of Dr. E. H. and Lucy B. (Fetty) Dodson, was born 
at Glenville, Gilmer County, West Virginia, October 28, 1880. After attend- 
ing the public schools of his native county for several years he matriculated 
as a student at the State Normal School at Glenville and remained there 
until he mastered all the branches contained in its curriculum; graduated 
from the Department of Arts and Sciences of the West Virginia University 
in 1901, receiving its highest scholastic degree — that of Bachelor of Arts. 
He then read law and later attended the West Virginia University and took 
the complete law course of study, graduating with honor in 1903, receiving 
the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He located at Spencer in Roane County; 
was admitted as a member of the Circuit Court Bar of that county Septem- 
ber 7, 1903, and has since practiced in that and the adjoining counties in 
all the State and Federal Courts, with greater than anticipated success. 
While he is familiar with all branches of the law, and has eases therein, he 
has specialized in oil and gas cases, representing as their attorney several oil 
and gas companies, and is himself largely engaged in the oil and gas business. 
He is, therefore, thoroughly familiar with all the State statutes and court 
decisions pertaining thereto. He has practiced in a number of important 
special cases in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Kentucky, because of his special 
knowledge of those difficult branches of the law. Mr. Dodson has succeeded 
in his practice in securing the confidence of the people of his own county 
and throughout that section of the State. He is proud of his profession and 
ambitious to excel in it, but like many young lawyers he has a liking for 
politics. Being a pronounced Republican he allowed his party to nominate 
him in 1916 for a seat in the State Senate, and was elected. Being a ready 
debater he took an active part in the discussions that arose on the floor 
of the Senate, and thus made himself an influential member of that body 
of the Legislature. He is firm and decided in his political opinions, and 
tenacious to party attachments, but he is courteous to his political adver- 
saries, and tempers his zeal with such discretion as to never render himself 
personally obnoxious to his opponents. His Senatorial term is for four 
years, and the chances are that he will make a record before it ends, and 
thus add additional allurements to his political experiences. 

When younger in years than he now is, he was Captain of a company of 
the West Virginia National Guard, and demonstrated many admirable 


HON. RAYMOND DODSON 


428 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


soldierly traits of character. October 27, 1910, he was united in marriage to 
Miss Nelle Rachel Smith, of Charleston, West Virginia. They have one 
child — Dorothy Annette, who was born October 25, 1912. He is a Ruling 
E'der of the Presbyterian Church; is a Mason, a Knight of Pythias and a 
member of the Delta Tau Delta Greek Letter College Fraternity. His home 
is in the city of Spencer, where he is well and favorably known. His 
portrait shows him to be of good stature and commanding presence. 

He is not only a successful lawyer, but he is also an enterprising business 
citizen, deeply interested in the development of his section of the State. 


Henry Clay Duncan, Jr., LL.B. 


Mr. Duncan, a member of the able law firm of Holt, Duncan and Holt, of 
Huntington, was born at Ceredo, Wayne County, West Virginia, November 
1, 1875, and was educated in the public schools, the West Virginia Univer- 
sity, and received the degree of Bachelor of Laws from the University of 
Virginia at Charlottesville. But few young men enter the legal profession 
educationally equipped as well as this young man. He began life as a 
lawyer at Ceredo, in 1896, and in 1898 he moved to Huntington and became 
a partner in the firm of Campbell, Holt and Duncan, which continued until 
1904, when Mr. Campbell withdrew and the firm was changed to that prince 
of lawyers, Hon. John H. Holt, and the subject of this sketch. At present 
the firm stands as Holt, Duncan and Holt. It can be truthfully stated that 
it is one of the ablest law firms in this or any of the surrounding States. 
Their business extends to all of the State Courts, the United States Courts 
and the Supreme Court of the United States. They appear on one side or 
the other of nearly all the important causes in the southern part of West 
Virginia in both State and Federal Courts. While they carry on a general 
practice, they specialize in corporation litigations, and, therefore, maintain 
a high standing as corporation lawyers. 

As a counselor Mr. Duncan is careful, clear-headed, systematic, vigilant 
and thorough in his work. In argument he addresses the reason and the 
practical judgment of the court and jury. He is a close and careful student 
of the law and keeps up with the decisions of the courts and textbook 
writers. He is a man of excellent personal appearance, as his portrait 
proves. His learning is varied and extensive, and his integrity is equal to 
his accuracy and his learning. His history as a man and an attorney is 
a record of manliness complete in every detail. 

Mr. Dunean is a Democrat, but has never sought an office at the hands 
of the people. He is a member of the Masonic Fraternity, is married and 
has one son. His home-life is enjoyable, and his standing in the community 
is of the very best. 


HENRY C. DUNCAN, JR. 


450 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Arthur Spencer Dayton, A.B., LL.B. 


One of the brilliant, able and most promising young men who has come 
to the Bar in West Virginia, in recent years, is Arthur S. Dayton, of 
Philippi, Barbour County, of this State. He is the son of Hon. Alston 
Gordon Dayton, who for ten years was a distinguished member of Congress 
from West Virginia and for a number of years past has been United States 
Judge of the Northern District of West Virginia. Our subject was born 
May 6, 1887, in Barbour County. He graduated from the classical depart- 
ment of the West Virginia University, receiving the degree of A.B., and 
later he graduated from its Law Department, receiving the in cursu degree 
of LL.B. He then went to Yale University, where he completed a post: 
graduate course and received the degree of A.M. It is quite apparent that 
but few young men have started out on a legal career as thoroughly 
equipped as did young Mr. Dayton. It is not surprising, therefore, that he 
commanded the attention of his associates from the trial of his first case, 
that he was sure to make good, which he has done in a most satisfactory 
manner. He has always been a hard student of the law, and has kept 
abreast of the court decisions and the textbooks, and has dignified the 
profession by exhibiting the highest types of integrity, fidelity and learning. 

He was admitted to practice in the Cireuit Court of Barbour County, June 
3, 1908, and has since been licensed to appear in all the State and United 
States Courts in West Virginia. He has an unusually large clientele for a 
man of his years, and is steadily growing as the years roll on. He has 
written several articles for the ‘‘Standard Encyclopedia of Procedure,’’ 
notably the ones on Certiorari, Dismissal, Discontinuance and Nonsuit, pub- 
lished by L. D. Powell & Co., which reveal knowledge and research on these 
important subjects. His practice extends into all the branches of the 
profession, with tendency to specialize in corporation directions. His learn- 
ing, however, is varied and extensive, and his force of will, self-reliance 
and courage are more than common. As a lawyer he is thorough and accu- 
rate and has a firm grasp of legal principles, and those who know him best 
say his integrity is equal to his accuracy. That one statement contains’ a 
volume in itself, and lies at the bottom of all enduring success. 

Mr. Dayton was married to Miss Ruth Woods, daughter of Hon. Samuel 
V. Woods, June 14, 1916. 


Robert Kemp Morton, B.A. 


Mr. Morton’s parents were William B. and Margaret (Crockett) Morton 
of Falls Mills, Tazewell County, Virginia, where Robert K. first saw the 
light, January 25, 1880, and where he received his preliminary education 
in the public schools of that locality. Subsequently, in 1898, he entered 
Randolph-Macon College, and graduated therefrom with the degree of 
Bachelor of Arts, in the class of 1903. Parts of 1903 and 1904 he spent 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 431 


in post-graduate work at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, 
and in the autumn of 1904 he entered the Law Department of the Univer- 
sity of Virginia and graduated in the class of 1906. He returned to his 
native county of Tazewell immediately after leaving the University, and 
was received as a member of the Circuit Court Bar of that county in the 
spring of 1906. Seeing better opportunities for success in another locality, 
he removed his residence to Graham in Tazewell County, on the main line 
of the Norfolk and Western Railroad, in the fall of that year, opened a law 
office, and entered upon an active practice. While he was getting on fairly 
well, he felt that he could do better by locating in a city where there was 
more work for a well-equipped young lawyer, so he located permanently in 
1912 at Charleston, West Virginia, the Capital of the State, and the legal 
business center of the Commonwealth, and became a partner in the firm of 
Alexander and McCabe, where he remained four years. The firm conducted 
a large and profitable business. The partnership was dissolved in 1916, and 
since that time he has been engaged in business with Mr. D. N. Mohler — 
the firm being Morton and Mohler. 

But few lawyers, anywhere, can boast of a better general and legal 
education than Mr. Morton. He is thoroughly posted in the fundamental 
principles of the law. He is also energetic and trustworthy, and is a tire- 
less worker. He is a wise counselor, and a careful pleader; and when he 
comes into court he thoroughly understands his cases, and, consequently, is 
rarely taken by surprise. He is self-poised, and meets issues as they arise, 
without discomfiture or embarrassment. He is popular with other members 
of the profession and has never been charged with taking undue advantages 
of his brother members of the profession. He is a man of solid rather 
than of shining qualities, but impresses one as being utterly averse to a 
display of harshness, and able to control himself in meeting any sort of an 
emergency that might arise in the trial of an important cause. Mr. Morton’s 
practice embraces all the branches of the profession, and extends to all the 
State and United States Courts in West Virginia and the United States 
Cireuit Court of Appeals at Richmond, Virginia. He has appeared in special 
cases at Bluefield, Princeton, Union and Welch. 

In polities he affiliates with the Democrats. He has never held a political 
office, because he prefers law practice to political office-holding, and there- 
fore has never sought an office of any kind. 

Mr. Morton married Miss Julia Ward Davidson, of Mercer County, West 
Virginia, October 7, 1909, and they have three children. He is a member of 
the Presbyterian Church, the Masonic Fraternity and the Order of Elks, 
and enjoys the confidence and respect of the people in the city in which he 
resides. 


432 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Hon. Harry Hopkins Byrer 


My. Byrer was born at Philippi, the seat of justice of Barbour County, 
West Virginia, April 20, 1877. His parents were Frederick 8. and Isabella 
Woods Byrer, long time residents of said county. He was educated in the 
public schools of that section, and later graduated from West Virginia 
Wesleyan College, of Buckhannon, West Virginia, in the class of 1900. 
After a thorough course of studying of legal textbooks he passed the 
required examination and was admitted to practice in the courts at 
Philippi in February, 1902. Subsequently he became an attorney in the 
Federal Court, and also in the Supreme Court of Appeals of the State, 
wherein he has since practiced with gratifying results. 

His first public office was Prosecuting Attorney of his native county, 
which he ably and industriously filled from 1909 to 1912, inclusive. This 
four-year term classed him as a vigorous, fearless prosecutor, who, although 
kind and merciful, yet at all times determined to enforce the laws, without 
the fear of results, or favor to any and all violators of the laws of the State. 
It can be truthfully said of him that he is a man who maintains in all of 
his private and public acts the highest ideals of honor and integrity. It is 
also true of him that when a question of moral principle is involved no 
one has to pause and ask where Harry Byrer stands. He is always found 
on the side of good morals and good government. Since April, 1914, he has 
been assistant United States District Attorney for the Northern District 
of West Virginia, which office he still holds and ably fills. 

Mr. Byrer is an active and influential member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, and has been a Trustee of his alma mater (West Virginia Wesleyan 
College) since 1908, and has given much of his time and means for its 
support. He is a member of the Masonic Fraternity, Modern Woodmen of 
America, and Maccabees. He is married and has five children. There is 
a happy and successful future in store for a man of the makeup of Harry 
Hopkins Byrer. 


Hon. William Harrison Rardin, LL.B. 


Among the well-known lawyers of the Raleigh County Bar is the subject 
of this sketch. He is the son of Thomas and Roena Rardin, and was born 
in Jackson County, Virginia, December 13, 1861. He was educated in the 
public schools and at the Southern Ohio Normal Institute at Hockingport, 
Ohio. Later he took the course in law at the Southern Normal University, 
Huntingdon, Tennessee, from which he graduated in 1902. He also took a 
course of study at the West Virginia University. He was admitted to the 
Tennessee Bar in 1902, and to all the West Virginia Courts in 1903. He 
located at Beckley, Raleigh County, opened a law office, and is now engaged 
in practice in the Federal and State Courts, including the Supreme Court of 
Appeals of West Virginia. Being careful, industrious, clear-headed and 
thorough in his work, he has succeeded in establishing a profitable clientage. 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 433 


Before locating in Raleigh County, Mr. Rardin served one term as 
Superintendent of Public Schools of Jackson County, and proved to be a 
very efficient official. In 1905 he was elected a member of the Legislature 
from Jackson County, and rendered faithful service. In 1916 he had a 
large following of earnest backers who urged his candidacy for Member 
of Congress from the Fifth Congressional District. While he has some- 
what of an interest in politics, his thoughts and energies are mainly directed 
in the line of his profession, in which he is admirably succeeding. 

Mr. Rardin’s history, both as a man and a lawyer, is a record of manliness 
complete in every detail. In argument he addresses the reason, the practical 
judgment, and is clear-sighted and vigilant in respect of motives and 
ulterior influences. He fears no antagonist, and is unfaithful to no client. 
He is optimistic and cheerful, and the effect of his society is reassuring. 
Tn all his dealings, in or outside of the profession, he stands unquestioned 
as an honorable, upright, straightforward man. 

He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, is also a Freemason, 
and is married but has no children. He resides in the thrifty little city of 
Beckley, where he maintains the respect of all the people who know him. 


Hon. Alexander Dulin 


The subject of this sketch, son of A. H. and Rebecca (Burns) Dulin, was 
born in Wirt County, Virginia, February 22, 1854, and received his education 
in the common and high schools and a select school of that county; also by 
a careful reading of all the books on history and other subjects to which he 
had access. He possessed an inquiring mind, and he used every means 
possible to acquire knowledge. In this manner he managed to piece out a 
fairly good English education, and made good use of it in after years. In 
early life he decided to become a lawyer, and began the study of legal 
textbooks, which he kept up diligently until 1881, when he passed a 
ereditable examination and was admitted to membership of the Braxton 
County Bar, where, at Sutton, the county seat, he has, without interruption, 
since carried on a successful career as an attorney and counselor-at-law in 
State and Federal Courts in Braxton and adjoining counties. He has always 
been a Republican in his political affiliations, but has devoted practically all 
of his time to his profession. Being an excellent stump speaker, however, 
he frequently engaged in campaigns to assist his friends who sought offices 
at the hands of the people. The only public office he ever held was Assist- 
ant Attorney-General of the State, under the administration of the late 
Hon. Romeo H. Freer, in 1900 and 1902 inclusive, wherein he acquitted him- 
self with both ability and credit. When he retired from that responsible 
office he returned to Sutton and resumed his law practice. 

His career as a lawyer has been able and exemplary and his demeanor 
as a man and an attorney has been exemplary and honorable. His force of 
will, self-reliance and courage are more than common. He is a persistent 


434 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


worker, and invariably goes to the bottom of his cases, and is always fair 
and just in all court trials. He is optimistic and generous to a fault and 
his social qualities are of a high order. He is a strong advocate and tries 
his cases well. He is not only devoted to the law, but he is always devoted 
to his friends. He is ever ready to even go out of his way to perform a 
friendly act towards a friend. 

Mr. Dulin married Miss Cora B. Floyd, daughter of General W. H. Floyd, 
December 24, 1884, and they have a son and daughter living. Their home 
life has been of the pleasantest character. They are both active members ° 
of the Baptist Church. Mr. Dulin spent nine consecutive years as Moderator 
of the Elk Valley Baptist Association. He has frequently served as a 
special Judge of the Circuit Court, and always rendered satisfactory service. 
His entire life has been that of an exemplary citizen and Christian 
gentleman. 


Hon. Leonidas Hammon Kelly, LL.B. 


Mr. Kelly is the son of John McHamilton and Alzira Hammon Kelly, who 
was born at Sutton, Braxton County, West Virginia, January 28, 1871. He 
received his education in the public schools of his native county and at 
Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia, from which well- 
known institution he graduated in the class of 1893, receiving the degree of 
Bachelor of Laws, and in June of that year was enrolled as an attorney-at- 
law in the Circuit Court of his native county. Later he was admitted to 
the Bars of the Federal Courts of the State and in the Supreme Court of 
Appeals of West Virginia, where he has often appeared in important cases. 
The dear, old county of Braxton seems to be good enough for him as he 
has spent his life thus far within its limits, notwithstanding the fact, 
perhaps, that broader and more lucrative fields would have opened to one 
of his varied gifts and graces, had he sought a change of habitat. 

He is a Democrat in politics, and has served as Mayor of Sutton, the seat 
of justice of Braxton County, and it is said of him that he saw to it that 
the laws were enforced to the letter. His next office was a four years’ term 
as Prosecuting Attorney of his native county. He proved himself to be an 
active prosecutor of all violators of State statutes. He was not only.a 
strong prosecutor, but he was fair and just in all the cases that came to 
his attention. In 1916 he was made Assistant United States Attorney for 
the Southern West Virginia District, which office he was filling with credit 
and honor when in 1917 a vacancy occurred in the District Attorney’s office 
of his district. He was appointed to that highly responsible office, wherein 
he is now acceptably serving. His growth as a member of the Bar has been 
steady and of the substantial kind, which comes from merit and legitimate 
endeavor. He is careful, clear-headed, systematic, vigilant and thorough 
in his work, and his history as a man and lawyer is a record of manliness 
complete in every detail. His practice extends into all the branches of the 


HON. L. H. KELLY 


436 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


profession and in his own and the contiguous counties. He is thorough 
and accurate and has a firm grasp of legal principles, and his integrity is 
equal to his accuracy. 

Mr. Kelly is married and has one son and two daughters. He is a member 
of the Presbyterian Church and never fails to be found on the moral side 
of every question that comes before him. He is genial and courteous in all 
of his acts and has a host of personal friends wherever he is known. The 
unanimous opinion of his many friends is that he will acquit himself as 
United States District Attorney with credit to himself and honor to the 
Government. 


Graham Sale, LL.B. 


Our subject is the son of Andrew J. and Elizabeth Goodridge Wilson 
Sale, who was born in Wythe County, Virginia, May 21, 1881, and was 
educated in various private schools. Later he entered the Public High 
School at Lynchburg, Virginia, from which he graduated. Still later he 
matriculated as a student in the academic department and later in the 
School of Law at Washington and Lee University at Lexington, Virginia, 
from which well-known seat of learning he graduated in the class of 1902 
as Bachelor of Laws. He was admitted as an attorney at Pikeville, Ken- 
tucky, the fall of the same year he left the university, and began the prac- 
tice of his profession. He, however, saw greater opportunities for a young 
lawyer in the West Virginia coal fields, so he decided to change his location 
to Welch, the seat of justice of McDowell County, whither he moved in 
1903, and opened a law office in that prosperous town, where he has since 
resided and is conducting a profitable and rapidly increasing business. 

His practice embraces all branches of the law, with a tendency, however, 
towards specializing in corporation business, and he is now counsel for the 
Norfolk and Western Railway Company, the Southern Express Company, 
the Solvay Collieries Company and other coal companies of that section of 
the State. He is also attorney for several life insurance and trust com- 
panies who loan money and deal in mortgages, ete. His practice extends 
into all State and Federal Courts in McDowell and adjoining counties. 

Mr. Sale is well grounded in the fundamental principles of the law, is 
attentive to his business, and although he is yet a young man, he has 
developed into a successful trial lawyer, and handles his cases with tact 
and earnestness. He has gained strength by experience, and being upright 
and just in carrying on his business, he not only gains clients continuously, 
but holds those that trust their business to his management. He is careful 
in counseling his elients, and has established a reputation in this regard. 
This is greatly to his credit. This would be a safe rule for all young 
lawyers to adopt when they enter upon the profession. No lawyer should 
ever advise the beginning of a lawsuit, unless the law has been infracted, 
and there is reasonable prospect of winning the suit. Some lawyers advise 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 437 


the bringing of lawsuits merely for the prospect of a fee. This is morally 
wrong, and no lawyer ever succeeds, except temporarily, who thus conducts 
his business. We are glad to state that Mr. Sale is not that sort of a 
counselor. His history as a man and attorney is a record of manliness 
complete in every detail. By these methods he has built up a large and 
profitable clientage, which is steadily increasing as the years go by. 

Mr. Sale is married and has two children. He is a member of the Masonic 
Fraternity and Pi Kappa Alpha Greek letter ‘‘Frat.’’ 


Harry Scherr, LL.B. 


Mr. Scherr is the son of the late Hon. Arnold C. Scherr, deceased, who 
in his day was a man of great influence and power in West Virginia for 
many years. He was two terms of four years each Auditor of the State, 
and a few years ago had a strong following that vigorously favored his 
candidacy for Governor of the Commonwealth. The son was born at Mays- 
ville, Grant County, West Virginia, June 6, 1881, and received his education 
in the High School at Keyser, Mineral County, West Virginia, Alleghany 
County Academy at Cumberland, Maryland, Braden’s School at Highland 
Falls, New York, and the West Virginia University, from which latter 
institution he was graduated from the Law Department, receiving a diploma 
as Bachelor of Laws. After his graduation in 1905 he located at William- 
son, Mingo County, was admitted to the Bar in that county, and became 
the junior member of the law firm of Goodykoontz & Scherr, Mr. Goody- 
koontz being then as now known as one of the ablest lawyers of the southern 
part of the State. Mr. Scherr being at that time only a beginner, showed 
wonderful aptitude as an attorney, and was not long in taking rank as one 
of the coming lawyers of the State. Although modest and unassuming, yet 
he possessed self-reliance and self-assertion in sufficient degree to attract 
the attention not only of the older members of the profession, but the public 
as well, and throwing into his work the enthusiasm of youth and utilizing 
those legal principles in which he was thoroughly grounded, he was not long 
in establishing an enviable rank at the Mingo and surrounding county Bars. 
He rapidly gained strength by experience. With his modesty and urbanity 
went no shadow of weakness or lack of decision. He possesses an abun- 
dance of courage, and has superior judgment. He is a careful pleader and 
makes sure of his position before he acts. Although young in years, he is 
a good lawyer and a safe counselor. He is thoroughly accurate, and his 
integrity in all respects is on all fours with his accuracy. When one sums 
up the very promising younger lawyers in the State at large, Mr. Scherr 
must be taken into the account. 

Mr. Scherr is also gifted with business tact in a very large degree. He is 
a director in the National Bank of Commerce of Williamson, and is also an 
officer and director in several industrial corporations. He is a member of 


438 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


the American Bar Association, West Virginia Bar Association, the American 
Academy of Political and Social Science, the American Political Science 
Association, and the American Historical Association. 

In June, 1914, he married Miss Rosa L. Wall, and they have two children. 
He is a Republican in polities, but has never aspired to any public office. 
With unusual devotion and untiring vigor he sticks closely to his chosen 
profession. He resides in the city of Williamson. 


Major John Baker White 


One of the well-known, successful members of the Kanawha Bar, 
who is classed with the younger members of the profession, is the subject 
of this sketch. He is a native of Romney, Hampshire County, in the beauti- 
ful, picturesque part of the South Branch Potomac region of West Virginia. 
He attended the schools of that locality and received a thorough preliminary 
English education, which he has supplemented with broadened courses of 
reading and private study, that make him largely a self-educated man. 

Our subject, a son of Captain Christian Streit White, who was a lawyer 
of ability, and for many years Clerk of the County Court of Hampshire 
County, comes from a long line of able lawyers and distinguished citizens 
of Virginia. The father — Captain C. S. White — was a gallant Confederate 
soldier, having served under Jackson and Early during the entire war and 
was wounded three times while in action. Our subject’s grandfather, John 
Baker White, was Clerk of both Courts in Hampshire County for over thirty 
years, and was a lawyer and a soldier in the War of 1812, and his great- 
grandfather, Judge Robert White, was one of the Judges of the General 
Court of Virginia, for many years, a leader of the Bar of Winchester, 
Virginia, and a gallant Revolutionary soldier, having been wounded several 
times during that war. He was an original member of the Order of the 
Cincinnati. Our subject now is a member of that Order, having succeeded 
to the rights of his great-grandfather in the same, and is also a member of 
the Sons of the Revolution through descent from Major Robert White and 
Rev. Christian Streit. Judge Robert White was a son of John White, one 
of the members of the first Bench of Magistrates of Frederick County, 
Virginia, and a son of Dr. Robert White, who along with his father-in-law, 
William Haige (Hoge), came to the valley of Virginia about 1734, and 
were formerly from Paisley, Scotland. 

Our subject ’s mother was Bessie J. Schultze, a Scotch lassie, the daughter 
of Dr. Robert Schultze, Professor of Foreign Languages in the University 
of Edinboro, and Margaret Robb of the MacGregor Clan. Dr. Schultze was 
also, for a while, a member of the British diplomatic service. 

Major White entered upon his public service career as Clerk for the 
Secretary of State in 1886, and remained in that capacity until he became 
the Private Secretary of Governor William A. MacCorkle, which high posi- 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 439 


tion he filled acceptably until the close of the Governor’s administration. 
In the meantime he became interested in the National Guard of the State, 
in which service he remained for ten years, rising to the rank of Major. 
When the Spanish-American War came on he volunteered in the service of 
his country, and was commissioned by Governor Atkinson as Captain of 
Company B of the First Regiment West Virginia Infantry, United States 
Volunteers, and served faithfully and efficiently until the close of the war. 

From early manhood Major White has taken a lively interest in the 
political affairs of his county and State. He has served as a Democrat in 
the City Council of Charleston; he also filled the responsible office as a 
member of the Board of Affairs of the city of Charleston, for the full term 
of four years, and on many occasions during that period he acted as 
Mayor, rendering most valuable and honorable service to the people of the 
city. His chief aim was to render a service that would advance the 
interests of the people, without showing favors to any class or classes of the 
citizens of Charleston. His service in that high office marked him as a man . 
of high honor, firmness and probity. 

He began the study of legal textbooks while employed in the Capitol 
building of the State, and was admitted to the Bar in 1897 when he opened 
a law office in the city of Charleston. His practice soon extended to all the 
Courts, both State and Federal, within the limits of West Virginia, which 
includes a considerable number of cases of State-wide importance. 

Major White is one of the kindest-hearted gentlemen the writer has ever 
known. He never allows an opportunity to pass without extending a helping 
hand to any one who needs sympathy, friendship and help. Such men are 
rarely found in this or any other portion of this wide world which we 
inhabit. 

Major White, somehow and for some reason best known to himself, 
has never married. 

When the United States declared war against Germany he again tendered 
his services to his country, and is now serving in the Judge Advocate’s 
Department at the front, and is a Major in the United States Army. 


Hon. Charles Wesley Good 


Our subject, the son of John W. and Elizabeth Good, was born at Ray- 
mond City, Putnam County, West Virginia, September 8, 1874, and was 
educated in the common schools of Putnam and Jackson Counties. He 
did not have the advantages of a college education, but he was industrious 
and ambitious and possessed an inquiring mind, which by constant appli- 
cation to books of a proper kind he devoted his energies early and late to 
a systematic study and reading of such books as broadened his mind and 
thus enabled him to grasp the kind of knowledge that would be useful to 
him in a professional career; information absolutely essential to enable 


440 Bench and Bar of West Virginia | 


him to succeed in his professional undertakings. In this way he acquired 
correct methods of expression, logical methods of thinking and reasoning, 
and a terse and vigorous style both in writing and speaking. 

To start with Mr. Good has an unusual amount of sound, common sense, 
and he is also thoroughly upright and honorable in all of his dealings with 
his clients, the courts and his brother attorneys. He is always open, frank, 
conscientious and sincere. When a man needs the services of a lawyer 
he will look for one who can be implicitly trusted and who will advise him 
honestly. Consequently when an attorney secures a reputation among the 
people based upon characteristics of this kind he will never want for 
clients. Mr. Good is this sort of an attorney; and being an untiring worker, 
one who prepares his cases carefully and tries them thoughtfully and 
honestly, has gathered about him a profitable and steadily increasing 
clientele, which no competition can take away from him. 

Mr. Good is a warm-hearted, affectionate man; a faithful friend and a 
generous opponent, and is always friendly disposed. He is not impulsive, 
and when once settled in his convictions he is decidedly frank and fearless 
in their expression. He is easily approached and combines courtesy and 
affability with dignity and firmness. His efforts in the argument of a 
case are more remarkable for practical, common sense than for brilliancy 
of oratory or the flowers of rhetoric; his mind strictly practical in its scope 
and bearings is eminently utilitarian. Energy of character, firmness of 
purpose and an unswerving integrity are his chief characteristics. These 
characteristics, coupled with unswerving vigilance, have given him a solid 
standing as a member of the Kanawha Bar, to which he was admitted in 
October, 1901, where he has since successfully practiced. 

He is a Republican and was elected a member of the lower branch of the 
State Legislature from Jackson County in 1901, and in 1908, after becom- 
ing a resident of Kanawha County, he was again elected to the same dis- 
tinguished law-making body, serving honorably and efficiently throughout 
both terms of two years each. - 

He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Knights of 
Pythias and National Union; is married, resides in Charleston, but has no 
children. 


Hon. E. Leslie Long 


Mr. Long is a native of Tyler County, West Virginia, and is the son of 
L. H. and Martha A. Long. He was educated in the public schools of Tyler 
County, graduated from West Virginia Wesleyan College at Buckhannon 
in 1898, and from the Law Department of the West Virginia University in 
the class of 1901. He located at Welch, McDowell County, and was admitted 
to the Bar of that county in 1902, where he practiced his profession until 
he was elected State Treasurer of West Virginia, and after retiring from 
that office he remained at Charleston, the capital of the State, and resumed 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 441 


the practice of the law. His practice is general and extends into all the 
courts of West Virginia, both State and Federal. His diligence, energy and 
fidelity to the interests of his clients soon won deseryed success and remu- 
nerative pecuniary rewards. He is well grounded in the fundamental 
principles of the law, and is a safe counselor and a conscientious adviser. 
He does not bring law suits for ‘‘ revenue only ’’ or for the glory of mul- 
tiplying cases on a court docket. On the contrary when a party has 
legitimate ground upon which to build a law suit —when one has been 
wronged and justice and right have been trampled upon, then, and not 
before, will he advise a court procedure in order that justice may prevail. 
It is a sad thought, and is all too true, that many lawyers (not good ones) 
quite frequently advise the institution of court proceedings when they 
know that they could not make out a case, simply to increase their fees and 
to impress the public that their volume of business is large and is growing 
larger. Such men fail in the end. They are mountebanks and charlatans 
and the public never fails to find them out. The lawyer who succeeds 
must be sincere, honorable and trustworthy to win out in the long run. An 
old Scotch sailor once said: ‘‘ Messmates, I tell you God Almighty has 
so arranged things in this world, that after all, it about pays all men to be 
honest.’’ He was forever right! It can truthfully be said of the subject 
of this sketch that he is an honest, upright man and a conscientious 
practitioner of the law. 

Mr. Long in his political convictions has always been a Republican. 
He, however, has only held two political offices. One of these was Post- 
master of the City of Welch, which he held for a short time, and the other 
was Treasurer of the State of West Virginia, to which he was elected by 
the people, first in 1908 and again in 1912, making eight years of continuous 
service. In both of these public places he rendered faithful and efficient 
service. 

He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Masonic Fra- 
ternity and the Phi Kappa Psi Greek letter ‘‘ frat.’? He has never mar- 
ried. ‘‘ What do you think about that? ’’ for one close on to forty? 


Herman Guy Kump, LL.B. 


The Kump family is a well-known and somewhat historic name in the 
section of country bordering on the Valley of Virginia. Herman Guy is 
a son of Benjamin F. and Frances M. (Rudolph) Kump, who was born at 
Capon Springs, Hampshire County, West Virginia, October 31, 1879. He 
received his primary education in the public schools of his native county. 
Later he entered the University of Virginia, graduating in 1903; and in 
1905 he was graduated from the Law Department of that historie institu- 
tion with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. In October of that year he was 
admitted as a member of the Randolph County Bar at Elkins, where he has 


442 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


since continuously resided and practiced, and is a member of the West 
Virginia and American Bar Associations, and a regular attendant at their 
annual meetings. Being thoroughly educated in the fundamental principles 
of the law he was not long in reaching an enviable rank at the Elkins Bar, 
gaining admission to all the West Virginia Courts, both State and Federal, 
including the Supreme Court of the United States. 

He is a member of the Democratic party, and is both politically and 
socially a very popular man. He was elected Prosecuting Attorney of 
Randolph County in 1908, and served so efficiently and with such general 
satisfaction that he was re-elected in 1912 for a second term, with an 
inercased majority. In this important and exacting office he made a most 
enviable record. He is not only a safe, sound and successful lawyer, but 
ke is honorable and upright in all of his dealings and acts, and stands 
four-square before the people, both as a citizen and an attorney. Gov- 
ernor Cornwell named him, along with Senator F. O. Blue, as Special Coun- 
sel for the State in the gas matters now pending before the Public Service 
Commission. He presided over the Congressional Convention at Keyser 
in April, 1916, which nominated a candidate to fill the vacaney caused by 
the death of Hon. W. G. Brown. 

He married Miss Edna Scott, daughter of Hon. Cyrus H. Scott, a prom- 
inent attorney of Beverly, West Virginia, October 9, 1907. Five children 
resulted from this union. Mr. Kump is a member of the Evangelical 
Lutheran Church, the Odd Fellows, the Elks, the Sons of Confederate 
Veterans, and the Phi Delta Theta Greek letter society. He is an active, 
enterprising citizen, as well as a successful lawyer, and commands the 
respect of all the people who know him. 


Biagio Merendino, Ph.D., LL.B. 


The subject of this brief sketch is a native of Italy, a son of Vincenzo and 
Francesca, and was born in Sicily (Corleon), May 5, 1876. He was edu- 
cated at Seminoru Mt. Reale, Cumberland University, receiving the degrees 
of Doctor of Philosophy and Bachelor of Laws. He came to the United 
States as attorney for the Italian Consulate for West Virginia several years 
ago and located at Clarksburg. His duties are to look after the interests 
of Italian subjects who are either temporarily or permanently located in 
West Virginia, which he has done with great care and in a most satisfactory 
manner not only to his own Government, but to our West Virginia people 
as well. He is a man of great learning generally and is also an erudite 
lawyer. He was admitted as a member of the West Virginia Bar at Clarks- 
burg in September, 1913, and his practice has extended into all of the State 
and Federal Courts, including the Supreme Court of the United States. 
He is a fluent and forceful public speaker, and argues his cases in an 
attractive and satisfactory manner. He, therefore, is regarded as an attor- 


—_ 


HON. BIAGIO MERENDINO 


444 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


ney of high standing of the Clarksburg Bar, which has for many years 
been ranked among the ablest Bars in the State. He is also Vice-Consul 
for Spain in the State of West Virginia. 

Dr. Merendino is a man of wide literary attainments. He has delivered 
a large number of literary addresses, and has written many magazine 
articles on a variety of subjects in this and his native country. He is a 
noted linguist and a stump speaker of renown. In politics he is a Repub- 
lican, and is earnest and energetic in promulgating the principles of that 
organization. He holds membership in the Benevolent and Protective 
Order of Elks, and also belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. 
He is a man of high grade personal character and marked personal appear- 
ance, as his portrait on the accompanying page clearly shows. He is of 
good stature, his features are strong, and his whole aspect indicates a man 
of refinement, ability and force. He is a most genial companion and has 
a large circle of admiring friends. It is only just for us to say that his 
learning is varied and extensive. He married Miss Cora Binona, an accom- 
plished musician, vocalist and linguist, and four children are the result of 
this union. 

As a lawyer Mr. Merendino has been very active in the trial of cases, 
especially on the criminal side of the court. Since he began practicing in 
West Virginia he has been counsel in fifty-eight felony cases, in which he 
showed himself to be an able trial lawyer. He is now in partnership with 
Mr. H. Frank Stout, under the firm name of Stout & Merendino, at Clarks- 
burg, where he is known and admired by a large circle of personal friends. 


Hon. Charles Edgar Carrigan, A.B. 


Our subject, son of John and Amanda Ellen Carrigan, was born in the 
town of Sherrard, Marshall County, West Virginia, April 9, 1871. He 
received a preliminary education in the common schools of his native 
county, and later attended the West Virginia University, from which he 
graduated with degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1895. He taught in the 
publie schools for a short time; read law, and was admitted to practice 
as a member of the Marshall County Bar, at the City of Moundsville, in 
1902, where he has since practiced and has built up a profitable clientele. 
He has since been admitted as a member of all State and Federal Courts 
of West Virginia. - 

Mr. Carrigan is a man of striking and prepossessing appearance, tall, 
graceful, erect, with classical mould of features. He was, therefore, not 
long in finding his way into public life. He is a man of solid rather than 
of shining qualities, and his life is redolent of purity, and excels in a 
proper conception of duty. There is a delicacy of sentiment which char- 
acterizes his conduct, and an affableness and quietness of demeanor, an 
utter absence of display or harshness; a suavity and gentleness that no 


ee ee ee 


HON. CHARLES E. CARRIGAN 


446 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


action of his would even offend the humblest citizen, and withal his domi- 
nant characteristic is that of integrity. 

He was elected a member of the State Senate from the Second Sena- 
torial District of West Virginia, and served four years, with credit and 
ability, from 1903 to 1907; was Prosecuting Attorney of Marshall County 
for four years, from 1909 to 1913; in 1916 he was the nominee of his party 
for Presidential Elector from the First District and was elected; and was 
the nominee of the Republican party in 1910, and was defeated. Since 
that time, his undivided energies have been devoted to his profession, in 
which he has been very successful. 

Mr. Carrigan married Miss Harriett Rebeca Davis, August 22, 1907, one 
child being the result of such union, a son—John Edgar—who is now 
nine years of age. 

Mr. Carrigan maintains a high rank in the Masonic Fraternity, having 
filled its highest office, that of Grand Master of the State during 1916—’17. 
He is also a member of the Odd Fellows and Elks Fraternities, and the 
Phi Kappa Psi Greek letter ‘‘frat.’’ He is a Presbyterian in his religious 
affiliations. 


Hon. Frank Cruise Haymond, A.B., LL.B. 


Our subject is the third in line of noted lawyers in one Marion County 
family. His grandfather was an eminent Judge of the Supreme Court of 
Appeals of West Virginia. His father at this time is serving as a Circuit 
Court Judge in the State, and Frank C. is one of the rapidly growing 
lawyers of the same county of which all three of them are natives. The 
youngest of the trio was born at Fairmont, the county seat of Marion 
County, April 13, 1887. His early training was in the public schools of 
the City of Fairmont; he then graduated from the State Normal School in 
that city; next he entered Harvard University, Massachusetts, from which 
he graduated A.B. in. the class of 1910; he then entered the Law Depart- 
ment of the same University and graduated in 1912. He returned to Fair- 
mont, West Virginia, and was made a member of that Bar, December 6 
of that year. Being thoroughly educated in the technique of all branches 
of the profession, he was not long in gathering about him a profitable 
clientele. He was thereafter admitted to practice in all the State and 
Federal Courts of West Virginia, also the United States Circuit Court of 
Appeals for the Fourth Judicial Circuit at Richmond, Virginia. Shortly 
after he began to practice he was appointed a Commissioner in Chancery 
of the Intermediate Court of Marion County, which position he ereditably 
filled and still holds. 

In polities he followed the footsteps of his father and grandfather and 
became a Democrat. In 1916 he was elected a member of the West Vir- 
ginia Legislature from Marion County and proved to be an active and 
efficient legislator. He, however, kept up his law practice during the two 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 447 


years he was a member of the Legislature. In 1918 he answered the call 
of his country by volunteering as a soldier in the war between Germany 
and the allied nations that stand for liberty, civilization and progress. 
He is an upright young man, thoroughly honest in heart and purpose, and 
has, thus far, acquitted himself honorably in all of his undertakings. If 
his life be spared, which we sincerely hope it will be, we feel confident he 
will return to his home and greatly add to the achievements he has already 
made as a member of the West Virginia Bar. 


George Douglas Moore, LL.B. 


The subject of this sketch, Mr. George D. Moore, son of the Hon. 
Cleon Moore, an eminent Virginia lawyer, of the old school was born at 
Charles Town, West Virginia, August 15, 1879, and has always resided in 
the city of his birth. He was liberally educated, having spent six years, 
from 1891 to 1897, at the Charles Town Male Academy; three years, from 
1897 to 1900, as a student at Hampden-Sidney College, one of the oldest 
and best known educational institutions of the State of Virginia, and 
winding up with a two years’ course in law at Washington and Lee Uni- 
versity at Lexington, Virginia, graduating in the class of 1903, with the 
degree of Bachelor of Laws. After graduating he returned to his home at 
Charles Town. In the summer of that year he was admitted to the Bar, 
and entered upon a successful career as an attorney-at-law. His practice 
is general and extends into all of the Courts of West Virginia, both State 
and Federal, and of the United States Circuit Court of Appeals of the 
Fourth Judicial Circuit. He began practicing as a member of the firm of 
Cleon Moore & Son, his father being the senior member of the partnership, 
which continued until 1914, when the father departed this life, after a 
career of distinction and usefulness, both as a lawyer and a citizen. 

Our subject has always adhered to Democratic principles, but has never 
been termed, in a strict sense, a politician. He has never held any political 
position outside of the line of his profession, and has never aspired to an 
oftice of any kind, except that of Prosecuting Attorney of his native county. 
He was elected to this important legal office in the campaign of 1908 and 
served four years. He discharged his official duties with such great satis- 
faction to the people of the county that they nominated and elected him 
for a second term. His public career has been able and exemplary. He 
is dignified in manner, and withal modest and unassuming. He is solidly 
grounded in his profession, is upright in character, and reveals pronounced 
legal ability in important causes. On the whole his record in the profession 
is worthy of emulation, as he is a broad, thorough, conscientious lawyer and 
has made a record worthy to be followed. 

June 4, 1907, he was united in marriage with Miss Louise H. Blume. 
They have been honored with one child — Master John A. Moore. He is a 


448 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


member of the Presbyterian Church and is also a Mason and an Odd Fellow, 
and belongs also to the Chi Phi Greek letter fraternity. 

Since the demise of his father he has practiced law alone, and has suc- 
ceeded in holding a profitable clientele in the town where he was bred and 
born. 


Hon. J. O. Henson 


Mr. Henson, son of John O. and Annie C. Henson, was born at Martins- 
burg, Berkeley County, West Virginia, September 4, 1887, and was educated 
in the public schools of his native county. Later he entered the Law 
Department of the West Virginia University at Morgantown, and was 
graduated in the class of 1908 and was admitted as a member of the Mar- 
tinsburg Bar, September 4 of that year, and entered at once upon a 
successful career as an Attorney-at-Law in the city where he was born. He 
has reversed the Scriptural rule that ‘‘A prophet is not without honor, 
save in his own country,’’ for ‘‘ he has made good’’ among his home 
people. He has since his maturity been a hard worker, a close student, 
and is a careful, systematic and thorough toiler. He is not only thorough 
and thoughtful in the preparation of his cases, but he is a good advocate 
and a successful trial lawyer as well. In argument he addresses the reason 
and practical judgment of courts and juries, and invariably acquits himself 
as a self-poised, sincere, careful and judicious counselor. His practice has 
extended into all the State and Federal Courts in West Virginia, and 
embraces all branches of the profession, which he has dignified by exhibit- 
ing the highest types of integrity, fidelity, learning and wisdom. 

Mr. Henson is a Republican in his political connections. He has, however, 
been thoroughly devoted to his profession, and consequently has never 
given much time to the study and practice of politics. He never held but 
one public office, and that was strictly in the line of his profession, namely: 
Assistant Attorney-General of West Virginia, in which he served two years 
and two months, from 1911 to 1913, with great acceptability, showing that 
he possesses many gifts and graces which give him high rank among his 
fellow members of the profession. He is a genial companion, and his force 
of will, self-reliance and courage are more than.common. He is also an 
upright, honorable gentleman, and possesses the confidence and respect of 
all who know him. 

He is a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church. He married Miss 
Fay D. Miller, November 1, 1913. They have no children. 

He made quite a notable record in the trial of the Martial Law cases in 
West Virginia, during the administration of Governor William E. Glasscock. 


a 


HON. J. O. HENSON 


450 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Tusca Morris, LL.B. 


The subject of this sketch, son of William F. and Elizabeth C. Morris, 
was born at Metz, Marion County, West Virginia, October 17, 1873. He 
attended the neighborhood public schools for several years; graduated 
from the State Normal School at Fairmont, Marion County, in the class 
of 1899; also graduated in the Law Department of the West Virginia Uni- 
versity in 1903, receiving the diploma of Bachelor of Laws, and was 
admitted to practice in the Circuit Court of Marion County at Fairmont, 
where he has since resided and has conducted a successful business. His 
practice extends over all branches of the law and into the adjoining 
counties. He was united in marriage with Miss Harriet B. Chesney, Sep- 
tember 16, 1903, one child was the result of their marriage. He is a mem- 
ber of the Baptist Church, the Knights of Pythias, the Order of Elks, the 
American and West Virginia Bar Associations, and the Democratic party. 

He has not been an office-seeker, and never held but one political office, 
that of Prosecuting Attorney of Marion County, to which he was twice 
elected. His first term was from 1909 to 1912, inclusive, and he was elected 
in 1913 to a second term, but resigned at the end of the third year to 
accept a legal position in the service of the Consolidation Coal Company, 
the largest coal mining corporation in West Virginia, and among the largest 
in the world, which position he still holds. He made an able and satisfac- 
tory Prosecutor, and is rendering valuable and satisfactory service where 
he is now engaged. He is a sound, safe lawyer and his record is estab- 
lished. Mr. Morris’ standing not only as a lawyer is good, but he ranks 
high as a citizen among the people with whom he associates. His practice 
was rapidly increasing when he accepted the position on the legal staff of 
the Consolidation Coal Company. 


William Henry Bishop 


Mr. Bishop, son of John and Sarah Roach Bishop, was born in Jackson 
County, Virginia, December 14, 1860, and received his primary education © 
in the common schools of that county. Later he attended, 1885 and ’86, 
the Peabody Normal College, Nashville, Tennessee, where he received care- 
ful training in the higher branches of learning. He was an earnest and 
faithful student and, at all times, used every opportunity to the best 
available advantage. In this way, he secured a well rounded English 
education. He read law at his home, passed a creditable examination, and 
was admitted to the Bar of Roane County, where he permanently located 
and has since resided at Spencer, the seat of justice of that county. He, 
however, has since been admitted to all the courts of the state, both State 
and Federal, and practices in all the adjacent counties. He possesses a 
strong intel'ect and a diction of unusual smoothness, which brought clients 
to him, which gave him a good rank as an attorney early in his career as 
a member of the Bar. 


WILLIAM H. BISHOP 


452 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


He has served three terms as Mayor of the City of Spencer; was 
Prosecuting Attorney of Roane County, four years, from 1904 to 1908 
inclusive; was a member of a Municipal Code Commission provided by act 
of the State Legislature; is the author of a book entitled ‘‘ Bishop’s Cities, 
Towns and Villages,’’? a book of real merit and of great advantage to the 
profession, and was a valuable public servant in all of these official trusts. 
He is well grounded in the law and is an incorruptible man and a patriot 
of the highest mould. He moves among his associates with universal 
esteem, and amid the temptations that surrounded him, preserved a reputa- 
tion untarnished by even a breath of suspicion. He loves labor equally 
from an instinctive energy and from a sense of duty. His dominant 
characteristic is his integrity. He has never compromised a principle, 
always holding that principle is indivisable. To him, therefore, justice is 
a supreme principle, as it should be with every lawyer. 

Mr. Bishop married Miss Gertrude M. Duling, July 7, 1892. They have 
two daughters —Monad A. and Sara C.—and the entire family are mem- 
bers of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Bishop has always been a Republican 
in politics, and is a member of the Masonic Fraternity. 

In the primary campaign of 1912 Mr. Bishop was a candidate for 
nomination for Judge of the Fifth Judicial Circuit, but was defeated by a 
small majority. 


Charles Nathaniel Kimball 


The subject of this sketch, son of Chester Frayer and Sarah Margaret 
(Boydston) Kimball, was born at Parkville, Missouri, September 20, 1872, 
and was educated in the public schools of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 
and at Wellsboro, Pennsylvania, also at Phillips Andover Academy, Andover, 
Massachusetts, and at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. 
After leaving Harvard, having early in life decided upon the law as a 
profession, he, entered the law firm of Elliott & Watrous at Wellsboro, 
Pennsylvania, was admitted to the Bar March 30, 1894, and immediately 
entered upon the active practice of his profession. Later he became a 
member of the firm of Elliott & Watrous. In 1902 Mr. Kimball located at 
Sistersville, West Virginia, and has since made his home in that city. He 
has been admitted to practice in the Federal Courts and Supreme Court 
as well, and most of the other courts throughout the State. He is the senior 
member of the able and well-established law firm of Kimball & Sugden at 
the City of Sistersville, Tyler County, where they have a large and profit- 
able clientage, which steadily increases as the years roll by. While their 
practice is of a general character, they nevertheless specialize in corpora- 
tion laws, in which they carry a large line of cases. 

Mr. Kimball has always been a Republican in his political convictions, 
but has never been a candidate for political preferment. He, however, 
served one term as Mayor of the City of Sistersville, and was a high grade 
official. He is not only an active worker in his profession, but he takes a 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 453 


deep interest in the civic growth of his adopted city. He is a director of 
the oldest National Bank in Tyler County, and is also a director and stock- 
holder of several other large, successful corporations, located within and 
outside of the State, which proves that he is a developer and is successful 
in his business undertakings and enterprises. 

From boyhood Mr. Kimball has been a noted athlete. He gained prom- 
inence as a baseball and football player and also as a sprinter. His fame 
in this direction was more than local and among his prized possessions are 
medals and prizes won by him some years ago in athletic events. 

In seeret and fraternal organizations he occupies a place of prominence. 
He is a member of the Shrine and is a 32d degree Scottish Rite Mason. 
He is senior warden of St. Paul’s Protestant Episcopal Church and is an 
active leader in church work. 

From the time he was old enough to vote, Mr. Kimball, as we have 
already stated, has been an ardent follower and supporter of the Repub- 
lican party. However, he has never but one time held public office, pre- 
ferring to remain in the background on the political field. He is a firm 
believer in the ‘‘ square deal ’’ policy and he lives it every day of his life. 

July 3, 1904, at St. Paul’s P. E. Church, Boston, Massachusetts, Mr. 
Kimball and Miss Mary J. McGlinchey were united in marriage. They 
have three children, viz.: Chester Frayer, Mary Boydston and Walter 
Sugden Kimball. Their home is on the bank of the majestic Ohio River 
in the progressive City of Sistersville. 

Mr. Kimball has always shown himself to be a man of a generous and 
joyful disposition. He is a safe and sane lawyer, and is an upright, 
honorable citizen. 


Judge William Wesley Wertz, LL.B. 


Judge Wertz, senior member of the firm of Wertz and Atkinson, attorneys, 
is a well-known, successful practicing attorney of the city of Charleston. 
He was born on Elk River, at Pinchton, June 15, 1879, in Kanawha County, 
and was educated in the public schools of his native county and at Nash’s 
Academy, at Graham’s Mines, on Elk River, an academy, at that time, of 
high grade, which dispensed thorough academic instruction. Mr. Wertz, 
being unusually industrious, full of energy, and of an inquiring turn of 
mind, made quite an enviable advancement in his knowledge of the arts 
and sciences. After leaving the academy he taught school for a short time, 
and while teaching he read law, and then attended the West Virginia 
University, graduating from the Law Department with the degree of LL.B. 
in the class of 1899, and promptly thereafter he was admitted to the 
Kanawha County Bar and has since maintained an office in the city of 
Charleston, and has built up an active and successful practice. He is a 
natural orator and a superior advocate, which make him strong in a court- 
house trial. 


454 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


He is active ‘on the side of the Republicans in politics, and has been 
elected to several important offices by the people in his native county. He 
has held the offices of City Recorder of Charleston, City Sergeant, Member 
of the City Council, Judge of the Charleston Police Court, Delegate to the 
State Legislature in 1912 and re-elected in 1914; and was unusually active 
in all of these positions, acquitting himself with credit in all of them. 
He is classed among the best campaign stump speakers in the southern 
section of the State; and withal, he never neglects his law office. His 
practice covers all the branches of the law, and embraces all the courts of 
West Virginia, both State and Federal. He is regarded as a very successful 
lawyer, especially in criminal cases, in which branch of the profession he 
transacts an extensive business. 

He is literary in his tastes and is well posted in history and literature 
generally. A few years ago he published a novel based upon local scenes 
and local characters, which reveals a brilliant imagination, written in the 
choicest of English. 

Judge Wertz married Miss Almeda K. Kieffer, of Charleston, by whom 
he has one child. They are active and useful members of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. 

About seventeen years ago Judge Wertz conceived the idea of having an 
annual reunion of Elk River people at Rockwood Glen, near Pinchton, ten 
miles from Charleston, which has developed into a popular and even more 
than prosperous institution, which lasts the greater part of three days every 
year, and is attended by more than a thousand of natives yearly. It is 
an incorporated institution, and has become noted for the addresses and 
historical papers that are delivered every August. They have erected an 
amphitheatre that will comfortably seat over a thousand people. It has 
become one of the Elk Valley fixtures, and Judge Wertz, more than any 
other one person, was and is its moving spirit, although practically all of 
the citizens of that section take a deep interest in promoting this annual 
home coming. The services begin Friday evening, Saturday is always the 
“hig day,’’ while Sunday is devoted exclusively to religious services, good 
preachers being selected by the program committee. These reunions have 
done very much toward elevating the standard of the citizenship of the 
people for many miles around the place of meeting. 


Ulysses Benjamin Atkinson 


Mr. Atkinson is a son of the Reverend Benjamin Franklin and Naney 
(Young) Atkinson, members of the Atkinson family, who were among the 
early settlers of Kanawha County, and, indeed, throughout the entire 
Kanawha Valley region. His great-grandfather, George Atkinson, settled 
in what was then known as ‘‘the Atkinson Bend’’ of Elk River, four miles 
from Charleston, who lived there the greater part of his life, and where 
his remains now repose. John Atkinson, son of George, and the grand- 


ULYSSES B. ATKINSON 


456 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


father of the subject of this sketch, was born in the Atkinson homestead 
and lived there a large portion of his long and useful life, having departed 
this life at the ripe, old age of seventy-six. He was a farmer and a miller, 
and he, and his younger brother James, were each Justices of the Peace 
for more than a quarter of a century. Benjamin Franklin Atkinson, one 
of the sons of ’Squire John, is a Baptist minister, who resides at Hunt in » 
Kanawha County, and is the father of our subject, and a first cousin of 
Judge George Wesley Atkinson, a former Governor of West Virginia, and 
a retired United States Judge, whose residence is in Charleston. 

U. B. Atkinson is also a native of Kanawha County, and was born July 23, 
1s79, and was educated in the public and private schools of his native 
county, and in early life began the business of a school teacher, which he 
followed faithfully for thirteen years and became widely known and 
esteemed in that profession. He taught in the graded high schools of Coal- 
burg, Crown Hill and East Bank. For two years he was Chairman of the 
Cabin Creek, Kanawha County, Institute, and was Secretary of the Kanawha 
County Teachers’ Institute for five consecutive years. He had from boy- 
hood decided to become a lawyer, and began early to read legal textbooks 
with that object in view, which he systematically pursued a large part of 
the time he was engaged in teaching. He finally abandoned teaching, went 
to Morgantown, took the Bar examination, as prescribed by our West 
Virginia statute, and was admitted as a member of the Kanawha County 
Bar in 1910, and has since practiced in all the State and United States 
Courts of West Virginia. 

In 1908 he was nominated by the Republican party, of which he has 
always been a member, as a candidate for Justice of the Peace for the city 
of Charleston, was elected, and served acceptably and satisfactorily for 
the full term of four years. Courts of this kind, under our State law, are 
of great influence in a city like Charleston, and are schools for young 
lawyers that fit them for usefulness and success when they regularly enter 
the practice of the law. During that four years’ term Mr. Atkinson tried 
hundreds on hundreds of most every kind of cases known to the law, many 
of them involving intricate legal questions, which enable one to weigh 
testimony and also trees out one’s mind so as to aid him greatly in arriving 
at just decisions in the cases that come before him. Mr. Atkinson proved 
to be a just and wise magistrate, and was popular with the suitors and 
attorneys who transacted business in his court. Since his admission to the 
Bar he has been a junior member of the law firm of Wertz and Atkinson, 
who are engaged in general practice in all State and United States Courts 
within the limits of West Virginia, and have a very satisfactory clientage 
which is steadily on the increase. 

Mr. Atkinson is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and has 
been a very active one for more than a score of years. He also holds 
membership in the Orders of Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias. He 
married Miss Hannah Ada Flowers, February 17, 1877. They have had five 
children, one of whom is dead. 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 457 


Adrian Collins Nadenbousch 


Among the well-known, successful lawyers of the ‘‘Eastern Panhandle’’ 
counties of West Virginia is the subject of this sketch. He is the son of 
Moses C. and Margaret A. Nadenbousch, of Berkeley County, West Virginia, 
and was born at Hedgesville, in that county, April 10, 1865. His early 
education was received in the public schools of his native county. Later he 
was a student at Randolph-Macon College, one of the well-known, high 
grade institutions of higher learning in the ‘‘Old Dominion,’’ in 1882, 
73 and ’4, at Ashland, near Richmond. After leaving college he returned 
to his home and read law in the office at Martinsburg, of Faulkner and 
Ingles, one of the strongest law firms in the State, until they pronounced 
him well grounded in the technique of the law, when he passed a creditable 
examination before three Judges, and was admitted to the Martinsburg Bar, 
April 10, 1888, where he has since continuously practiced in all the State 
and Federal Courts in West Virginia. His practice has been general, 
embracing all branches of the profession. By industry, integrity and 
square dealing he has worked well to the front, and has built up a profitable 
clientele. He gained strength by experience, and with his modesty and 
urbanity with no shadow of weakness and no lack of decision, but on the 
contrary, the “ fortiter in re” was an essential part of his nature, necessary 
to his own self-respect and commanding the respect of others. 

In his political convictions he has always adhered to the Democratic party. 
He, however, has never been an aspirant for any political office, and has 
never filled any office, except that of Deputy Clerk of the United States 
District Court at Martinsburg, to which he was appointed in 1888. In this 
position, which is directly in the line of his profession, he has discharged 
the duties of the same in the most satisfactory manner to all parties who 
have business in that court. 

Mr. Nadenbousch and Miss Margaret Wilen were united in marriage 
November 29, 1892, but they have not been blessed with any children. He 
is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and is also a prom- 
inent and high official in all branches of the Order of Freemasons in West 
Virginia. His home is in the city of Martinsburg in the Valley of Virginia, 
claimed by many to be ‘‘the garden spot of the world.’’ He is a courteous 
and popular lawyer and citizen and is respected by the people who have 
the pleasure of his acquaintance. 


Spurgeon F. Mitchell 


The subject of this sketch, son of James and Caroline Mitchell, discovered 
America, so to speak, March 11, 1879, at Rock Camp, Monroe County, West 
Virginia. He was brought up on a farm and received his education in 
the public schools, including the high school of his native locality. He took 


458 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


his course in law at the West Virginia University at Morgantown, grad- 
uating in 1913. He was promptly admitted as a member of the Bar of 
Monongala County, and has since practiced in that and the adjoining county 
of Preston, with offices at Terra Alta and Kingwood in the latter named 
county. He has never been a candidate for any public office, but has 
devoted his entire time and energies to the duties of his profession, in 
which he has met with much more than ordinary success. (Undeed, he was 
successful from the day he opened an office and hung out his ‘‘shingle’’ 
as an attorney-at-law. His practice embraces all branches of the law in 
all the courts of West Virginia, both State and Federal. He is solidly 
grounded in the technique of the law, is upright in character, and shows 
marked legal ability in important cases. He is a broad, thorough, con- 
scientious lawyer, and an honorable, enterprising citizen, and devotes much 
of his time and energy to the development of the county and section in 
which he resides. He is a hard student, and does not, at any time, neglect 
the interests of his clients. He tries his cases with ability and meets all 
the issues squarely, showing manly courage in all of his publie and private 
acts. He maintains offices both at Terra Alta and at Kingwood, the county 
seat. 

He married Miss Myrtle F. Lowe, March 27, 1906, by whom he has two 
sons, George and Harry. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, and the Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias Fraternities. In 
politics he is a Republican. He has a large number of warm friends among 
the people with whom he is acquainted. 


Hon. J. A. Viquesney 


Mr. Viquesney was born near Belington, Barbour County, West Virginia, 
April 7, 1869. His father emigrated to the United States from France when 
a boy, and his mother moved to Barbour County from Page County, Virginia, 
prior to the Civil War. He obtained his education from the common schools, 
the Commercial Department of the Methodist Episcopal Seminary at Buck- 
hannon, West Virginia, and the law school of the West Virginia University. 

Before he was twenty years old he was teaching in the common schools, 
and afterwards specialized in the teaching of penmanship. In the year 
1893 he entered the employment of the Baltimore. and Ohio and the West 
Virginia Central Railroad Companies, and worked as telegraph operator and 
assistant passenger and freight agent at Belington, West Virginia, for four 
years. Since that time he has been engaged in the buying and selling of 
real estate and the practice of law, becoming the junior member of the law 
firm of Ware and Viquesney, in the year 1905, with offices at Belington 
and Philippi. 

February 23, 1909, he was appointed by Governor Wm. M. O. Dawson 
Game and Fish Warden of West Virginia for an unexpired term ending 


HON. J. A. VIQUESNEY 


460 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


July 1, 1909, and was appointed as State Forest, Game and Fish Warden 
by Governor Wm. E. Glasscock for a term of four years, and reappointed by 
Governor H. D. Hatfield for a like period. 

Always taking an active part as a Republican in politics, he served a 
number of years as committeeman on both the County and Congressional 
committees. He was never a candidate for office, except he served four 
terms as Mayor of the town of Belington. 

He is member of Grafton Lodge, B. P. O. E., and K. of P., W. O. W. 
and Modern Woodmen of America. 

In a business capacity he is President of the Citizens’ National Bank of 
Belington, officer and director of several corporations, engaged in horticul- 
ture and agriculture; and is President of the Allegheny and Cheat Mountain 
Clubs, two organizations controlling nearly one hundred thousand acres in 
Randolph and Pocahontas counties, on which is being demonstrated the 
possibilities of propagating all kinds of game and fish, and which he expects 
to develop into the most attractive club proposition in America. 

While he has not devoted his entire time to the practice of his profession, 
he is, nevertheless, well grounded in the principles of the law, and has been 
very successful as a practitioner, and has built up a profitable clientele, 
which is rapidly increasing. He possesses a rugged intellect, and handles 
his eases with vigor and forcefulness. His many natural gifts are a sure 
guaranty of success in his calling as a lawyer and general practitioner. 
He is leading counsel in the prosecution of violators of the game and fish 
laws of the State, which, of itself, is enough to keep one lawyer quite busy. 


Thomas Henry Shelton Curd, A. B., LL. B. 


Mr. Curd is a member of the strong firm of Anderson, Strother, Hughes 
& Curd, of Welch, McDowell County, West Virginia. He was born at 
Howardsville, Albemarle County, Virginia, December 19, 1882. His father 
was Joseph Howard Curd and his mother Elizabeth Julia Curd of that 
historic county. 

He prepared for college at the Randolph-Macon Academy, Front Royal, 
Virginia, where he was a student for three years. Having completed the 
course at the Academy, he entered the University of Virginia, at Charlottes- 
ville, from which institution he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor 
of Arts in 1905. Continuing his studies at the University, he completed 
the law course, and received the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1906 and, 
thereupon, he located, for the practice of his profession, in Wytheville, 
Virginia, but later removed to Welch, McDowell County, West Virginia, 
where he continued to practice his profession and where he has been a 
member of the leading law firm of Anderson, Strother, Hughes & Curd 
for the last several years. He has been admitted to all of the courts, 
both State and Federal, and has a wide and successful experience as a 
lawyer, particularly in Bankruptey and Commercial law. 


THOMAS H. S. CURD 


462 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Since the United States entered the present war, he has been active in 
war work and is now serving as Chairman for McDowell County of the 
Four Minute Men. 

He was married February 28, 1910, to Miss Grace Harman. They have 
two children, Howard and Chandler. 

Mr. Curd ranks high as a Mason, being a Knight Templar and a member 
of the order of the Mystic Shrine. He is an active member of the 
Protestant Episcopal Church. 

In politics he is a Democrat and was the candidate of his party for the 
House of Delegates from McDowell County in 1918, but was defeated. He 
is a young man of high grade personal character, and of unusually flattering 
prospects in the profession he has thus far adorned. 


Hon. James Albert Toler 


Mr. Toler, son of Henry P. and Darthula Toler, was born in Oceana, 
Wyoming County, West Virginia, November 28, 1882, and received a pre- 
liminary education in the publie schools of his native county. Later he 
received an academic training at the Concord Normal Institute at Athens, 
West Virginia, and still later he took the law course at the Kentucky Uni- 
versity at Lexington, Kentucky. These courses of training afforded him a 
thorough fitness for the legal profession. He was received as a member of 
the Wyoming County Bar, July 7, 1907, at Pineville, where he began a 
successful legal career. From 1910 to 1912, inclusive, he was Assistant 
Prosecuting Attorney of the county, and proved so efficient and successful 
that the people elected him, in 1912, Prosecuting Attorney, in which office 
he served with distinction for the full term of four years, ending December 
31, 1916. He is a Republican in his political affiliations, but has sought no 
office except that of Prosecuting Attorney, which is in the line of his 
profession. 

Mr. Toler is a thoroughly informed lawyer and maintains a leading rank 
at the Wyoming County Bar. He prepares his cases with care, and in the 
court room he exhibits confidence and proper self-assertion, although he is 
agreeable and kindly disposed. His diligence, energy and fidelity to the 
interests of his clients have enabled him to win deserved success and 
remunerative pecuniary rewards. His practice extends into all the branches 
of the profession in all the courts of the State. He is a hard student, and 
keeps abreast of the decisions and the textbooks, and when interested in a 
ease he considers no labor too great to devote to it. Indeed, it may be 
truthfully said that application and industry never fail to win success in 
the law and in every other calling. 

Mr. Toler is married, has five children, and resides at Pineville, the county 
seat of Wyoming, one of the rapidly developing counties of the southern 
part of the State. 


J. A. TOLER 


464 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Donald Orr Blagg 


Mr. D. O. Blagg, the son of Benjamin H. and Luemma S. (Crawford) 
Blagg, was born in Mason County, West Virginia, July 31, 1886, and for 
several years had some experiences of farm life, which is an invaluable 
training for every young man. He was a student in the public schools of 
his native county; spent three summers in normal school training at one 
of our State Normal Schools; graduated from a business college, where 
he had a thorough training in the rules of business, and subsequently, in 
1908 and 1909, he took the prescribed course in law at the West Virginia 
University, and was admitted to the practice of his profession on June 11, 
1909. Soon thereafter he located in Charleston, where he has since resided, 
and engaged in the active practice of his profession, including all the State 
and Federal Courts in Kanawha and Mason counties, in which he has had 
very much more than ordinary success. 

Shortly after locating in Charleston, in 1905, he was employed as Assistant 
to the Clerk of the Supreme Court of Appeals, in which he remained for 
seven years familiarizing himself with the rules of practice, drawing orders 
and decrees, ete., in which he became proficient, and which he has since 
found to be a training for him in the practice of the profession of ineal- 
culable value. While yet somewhat young in years, still in the six years of 
his practice it has been demonstrated that he is thoroughly posted in the 
technique of the law and is exact in the preparation of his pleadings. He 
is an industrious toiler, and is careful in giving his opinions on questions ~ 
of law and is therefore a safe and sane adviser. He is upright in all of his 
dealings, and sincere and just in both thought and purpose. He has 
rapidly gained strength by experience, and has made a record for probity 
in all of his dealings at the Bar and in the community at large as a man who 
is upright, loyal, generous and considerate. Hence we hazard nothing in 
stating that there is before him a broader field of success and usefulness. 

Mr. Blagg married Miss Annie Laurie Knopp, and they have been blessed 
with a daughter (Janet Annie) and a son (Joseph Arthur). He is a useful 
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and both he and his wife are 
held in high regard by the people of Charleston. 

Since May 1, 1919, he has held the office of Solicitor of the City of 


Charleston. 


Marsh Watkins, LL.B. 


Our subject was born at Wheeling, Ohio County, West Virginia, July 14, 
1891; is a son of Charles H. Watkins, Jr., and Annie (Sadler) Watkins; was 
educated in the public schools and High School at Wheeling; was grad- 
uated from the West Virginia University with the degree of Bachelor of 
Laws; was admitted to practice at the Wheeling Bar, at the September 
term of the Cireuit Court of Ohio County, in 1912, and has since practiced 
in the courts of Ohio County, the Common Pleas Court of Belmont, Ohio, 


MARSH WATKINS 


466 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


the Superior Court of Alleghany County, Pennsylvania, and in the United 
States District Courts for the Northern Distriet of West Virginia, Western 
District of Pennsylvania, and Eastern District of Ohio. He has handled 
a large number of important cases, among which we mention Palace Furni- 
_ture Company v. Clark, in Ohio County; Hawley’s Administratrix vy. Wells- 
burg Electric Company, Brooke County; and the receivership case involving 
the Ohio Valley General Hospital Association, which was finally settled by 
agreement of the parties involved. 

Mr. Watkins was graduated from the Wheeling High School at the age 
of sixteen. He immediately entered the three-year law course at the West 
Virginia University, and had to take a fourth year’s work, because in 1911 
he could not have begun practice because of his minority. He received the 
degree of Bachelor of Laws at the age of twenty; commenced to practice 
law before Justice of the Peace Lee F. Dobbs, Wheeling, at that age. 

He was elected Judge of the Police Court of the city of Wheeling at the 
age of twenty-five and still holds that position. He is a member of the 
Phi Kappa Sigma Fraternity; Wheeling Lodge No. 28, B. P. O. Elks; Balti- 
more Lodge No. 6, Knights of Pythias; Wheeling Lodge No. 5, A. F. and A. 
Masons; is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason, and is a member of 
Osiris Temple, A. & A. N. M. Shrine. As a side line he devotes some of 
his time to music, and has been identified with church choirs for seven years, 
and writes valuable short stories for magazines and newspapers. He is an 
attractive writer, as well as a musician of high standing. 

He married Miss Ada Young May 7, 1917, and resides in Wheeling, the 
place of his birth. He is a many-sided young lawyer, and has a bright 
future ahead of him. 


Hon. B. F. Meighen, B.S. 


The subject of this short memoir was born in Greene County, Pennsyl- 
vania, not far from the northern West Virginia border. His parents were 
Thomas H. and Louise (Morris) Meighen, who were intelligent, highly 
respected citizens of Pennsylvania, who afterwards settled in West Vir- 
ginia and reared a large family. Thomas, the father, was a member of 
the ‘‘Bloody Seventh’’ West Virginia Regiment of Volunteers, and served 
nearly through the entire Civil War, before he was honorably discharged 
because of physical infirmities. 

Benjamin F. was born October 31, 1847, and never ceased his efforts to 
secure a college education, until he, with persistent determination, won a 
college diploma from Waynesburg College, September 3, 1873. He attended 
publie schools in the winter seasons, and worked on a farm during the 
summers in order to acquire the necessary funds to pay college expenses. 
After a term at the Southwestern Normal College at New California, Penn- 
sylvania, he came to West Virginia, received a certificate of authority, and 
began to teach school. He revealed an aptitude for that sort of service, 


B. F. MEIGHEN 


468 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


and taught several schools in different localities, until he had laid by a 
sum of money large enough to pay his way through Waynesburg College 
(Pennsylvania). Being now able financially to gratify his early ambitions, 
he matriculated as a student in the Department of Arts and Sciences in the 
above-named college in the spring of 1868, and remained until September 3, 
1873, as previously stated, when he graduated with the degree of Bachelor 
of Science. This shows the tenacity which dominated Mr. Meighen’s entire 
career. Ordinary mishaps never daunted him in the least. If things mis- 
carried, he went to it again, and kept on until he won out in the end. 

After graduation from college in 1873, he entered the office of R. W. 
Downey, a prominent attorney of Waynesburg, as a law student, and threw 
into the work his strong, unflinching courage and energies until April 6, 
1875, when he was able to pass a very creditable examination, and on that 
date he was admitted, in due form, as an attorney and counselor-at-law. 
October 6th of that year he located at Moundsville, where he conducted a 
profitable law business up to his last illness and death, August 29, 1906. 

Mr. Meighen was not only a successful lawyer, he was clean, honor- 
able and upright in all of his dealings. He stood four-square before all men 
in every public and private act. Men differed from him in polities, and per- 
haps in other things, but no man can truthfully say that he was not an 
honorable Christian gentleman. He was an intense Republican, and was an 
enthusiastic supporter of the principles of his party. He was, however, fair 
with his opponents, and was reliable in his statements. He never took an 
underheld on any man. He was a vigorous opponent, both in law cases and 
in politics, but he invariably did his fighting in the open. He held many 
positions of leadership in the Republican party, such as County and Con- 
gressional Committee Chairman, and for two years he was Chairman of the 
Republican State Committee. He was a superior organizer, and was rarely 
defeated in his political undertakings. When he was a friend to a man, 
he was a friend to the round up. He could be thoroughly trusted in all 
things, and therein we find the true elements of real manhood, which he 
carried to his grave. 

In 1884 he was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Marshall County, and 
four years later he was re-elected to the same position. With due respect 
to all the other able men of Marshall County who have filled that responsible 
office, the county never had a more efficient and able prosecutor than 
B. F. Meighen. He was at one time a candidate for State Senator, but was 
defeated by a small margin. 

By hard work and honest dealing he amassed an estate of considerable 
proportions. He was a good lawyer, a safe counselor and an all-round 
manly man. 

January 3, 1882, Mr. Meighen married Miss Lydia F. Gans, of Mounds- 
ville, West Virginia. They had no children, but their home life was ideal. 
Kindness and gentleness dominated the lives of both of them. 

When ‘‘Ben’’ Meighen passed into the ‘‘Great Unknown,’’ West Virginia 
lost one of its best and wisest citizens. 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 469 


Hon. David Adam McKee 


The subject of this sketch, son of David A. and Jennie McKee, was born 
in St. Clair County, Illinois, November 2, 1879. He received his primary 
education in the public schools of his native State, where he was a faithful 
student for a number of years. Although he did not have the advantages 
of a college education, he is by no means uneducated. He acquired by 
zealous application and systematic courses of reading and study of books that 
were available, knowledge which, added to his high school textbooks, fur- 
nished a substantial learning and made him master of a clear and vigorous 
style of expression, both in writing and in speaking. He is an excellent illus- 
tration of the fact that what one makes of himself, and not what he is made 
by the aid and influence of friends and family, is the most potent and prom- 
inent thought that arrests the attention and deepens the convictions of his 
fellow men. When one makes his own way in acquiring an education and 
the additional learning and knowledge to apply it, he will have graded a 
roadway, so to speak, over which he finds it not seriously difficult to travel. 
The men who make their law books their constant, everyday companions 
are the ones that make erudite lawyers, and winners in the end. College 
courses are helpful, very helpful, but they are not all of an education. 
We have observed that the everyday plodder and digger is the lawyer that 
wins the most law cases. Indeed, in all the learned professions, it has been 
plainly demonstrated that work, everyday work, is the sine qua non of 
success in any calling in life. Mr. MeKee belongs to this class, and conse- 
quently is succeeding admirably. 

When Mr. McKee was eleven years of age his parents moved to Missouri, 
and remained there until 1903, when they came to West Virginia and located 
in the city of Wheeling, where our subject has since resided. In early life 
he set his mind on law as a profession, and began to bend his energies in 
that direction. After locating in Wheeling he began a regular course of 
law textbook reading, and kept earnestly and zealously at the apparent 
herculean undertaking for three years, until he was prepared to stand the 
required examination, which he passed quite satisfactorily in 1906, and was 
promptly admitted as a member of the Wheeling Bar, where he has since 
practiced. His law business has had a steady, healthy growth, and he now 
has a representative, profitable clientage. From the first he established a 
reputation for candor and fair dealing, which to the present he has main- 
tained with an unfaltering purpose, which has given him a standing in the 
community as a man of integrity and moral and social worth that are assets 
to a young lawyer of incalculable value. His practice has extended into all 
the courts, both State and Federal, throughout West Virginia, and has 
included a number of cases of more than usual importance, in all which he | 
has shown skill and ability. 

He is a Republican in politics. His first political office was Assistant 
Prosecuting Attorney of Ohio County, wherein he made a good record. He 


470 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


was next appointed to the office of Prosecuting Attorney of the County to 
fill a vacaney caused by the appointment of that officer to a Cireuit Judge- 
ship, and he again made good. Next, in 1916, he was elected Prosecuting 
Attorney of the county for the term of four years, in which he is now ably 
serving. In 1910 he was defeated, along with the rest of his party ticket, 
for a seat in the West Virginia Legislature. His office-holding, therefore, 
has been exclusively in the line of his profession. He is an active member 
of the United Presbyterian Church, is an Elk and a Knight of Pythias. 
He married Miss Katherine Poffenbarger of Mason County in 1910, and has 
no offspring. 


Hon. James Rogers Moreland, A.B., LL.B. 


J. R. Moreland is a son of Joseph Moreland, a lawyer of prominence and 
ability for more than a generation, who departed this life in 1913. James 
was born in the city of Morgantown, West Virginia, December 9, 1879. He 
received his primary education in the Morgantown publie schools; later he 
entered the West Virginia University, and was graduated, in the classical 
course, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1901. Thereafter he entered 
the Law Department of the same university, and, after completing the 
entire legal course, received the diploma of Bachelor of Laws in 1902. The 
same year of his graduation he was admitted as a member of the Monon- 
galia County Bar, and became a partner of his father, who had a large 
and profitable clientele, he being one of the leading lawyers of the Morgan- 
town Bar. He remained the junior member of the firm until the death of — 
his father as stated above. 

Mr. Moreland, although a Democrat residing in a Republican city and 
county, has many Republican friends, as shown by his elevation to public 
office. In 1910, in a ward two to one Republican, he was chosen City Coun- 
cilman, and in 1914 he was elected to the State Legislature with the dis- 
tinction of being the first Democrat elected to a county office in Monongalia 
County since 1872. As a member of the Legislature he took an active part 
in advancing the interests of the West Virginia University, for which he 
obtained some $450,000 in appropriations and settled for all time the ques- 
tion of its removal from Morgantown. He married Miss Ethel B. Finnicum 
of Steubenville, Ohio, in 1904, and they have three fine boys. 

In person he is tall, with strongly marked features, and exhibits a uniform 
habit of devoting himself earnestly and efficiently to the discharge of his 
professional and other duties. Although possessing enlarged and liberal 
views, he usually forms his own opinions, and adheres to them. As a lawyer 
he has many of the gifts of his father, among them he is sagacious and able, 
and never fails to express himself with plainness and force. He possesses 
a clear, Strong, logical mind, and is liberal, though tenacious, in the main- 
tenance Of his opinions. He was never a seeker after office, always pre- 
ferring to give his undivided energies to the work-a-day duties of his law 


HON. JAMES R. MORELAND 


472 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


office. In this way he has managed to retain the large business of the firm 
of Moreland and Moreland, and increase it. He is a man of courteous and 
affable demeanor, but frank in his manners and expressions. In political 
matters he is prompt, decided and inflexible. Whether he has been on the 
right or wrong side, it belongs not here to discuss; this much may be safely 
averred, however,— he has always been on the same side. 

There is much less of success in life really dependent upon accident, or 
what is usually denominated lwek, than is generally imagined. Much more 
depends upon the objects which a man proposes to himself; what accom- 
plishments or attainments he aims at; what constitutes the circle of his 
vision and thoughts; what he chooses, not to be educated for, but to educate 
himself for; whether he looks beyond the present hour to the end and aim 
of the whole of life; or whether he listens to the appeals of indolence or 
pleasure, or to the stirring voice of his own soul, urging his ambition on to 
the higher and nobler objects of life. The man who toils on, day in and 
day out, and keeps himself ‘‘unspotted from the world,’’ is the one who 
wins out grandly at the finish. Industry and character are the sine qua non 
of real success in any calling. 

Mr. Moreland is an active member and worker in the Presbyterian Church 
at Morgantown, and is also a member of the Odd Fellows organization and 
Kappa Alpha Greek letter fraternity. He has been for some time past 
President of the West Virginia Society of the Sons of the American Revolu- 
tion, and was recently re-elected to that honorable position, which stamps 
him indelibly as an American patriot. 


Hon. Samuel B. Montgomery 


Our subject is the son of Adam and Susan (Digman) Montgomery, of 
Barbour County, West Virginia, who was born at Arden in that county, 
May 15, 1876. He attended the public schools of his native county for a 
number of years, and acquired a good common school education. In 1910 
he entered the West Virginia University and took the full courses in law 
and economies, graduating in the class of 1911. In the meantime he had 
changed his residence from Barbour to Preston County, and in the autumn 
of 1911 he was admitted to the Preston County Bar at Kingwood, the seat 
of justice of that county, and the next year he was admitted to practice in 
the Supreme Court of Appeals. His home is at Tunnelton, in that county, 
where he served three terms as Mayor of the town. He was also a Justice 
of the Peace for a considerable period of time, and later he was appointed 
Postmaster of Tunnelton, which he held for a short time and resigned. All 
the while he was working up a law practice, and was doing well; but it 
was evident he was getting ‘‘too many irons in the fire.’’ He, however, had 
carefully prepared himself for the practice of the law, and was succeeding 
admirably. He is a natural orator and is an excellent trial lawyer. He has 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 473 


been counsel for a number of labor organizations, and tries his cases ably 
and satisfactorily. He, therefore, maintains a high rank as a courthouse 
lawyer. He is always bright and cheerful; is a man of marked personal 
appearance, as his photograph shows; is of good stature, strong features, and 
his whole aspect reveals a man of character and force. In all relations, in 
his family, at the Bar, and in his friendships, he is loyal, true and generous, 
charitable and considerate. He naturally has a large following of friends. 

He served as State Senator of West Virginia from 1905 to 1909, and took 
a deep interest in the legislation of that period, and was ranked high among 
the strong men of that body. He was Chief Special Agent of the Depart- 
ment of Commerce and Labor in 1909 and 1910; was Federal State Director 
United States Public Service Reserve, and is at this time Commissioner of 
Labor of the State of West Virginia, which office he is filling with great 
ability and usefulness. 

He married Miss Grace K. Orr, of Kingwood, February 29, 1896; two 
children are the result of their marriage — Newton and Susan. Mr. Mont- 
gomery is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He also holds 
membership in the I. O. O. F. and the Knights of Pythias, of which he is 
the Grand Keeper of Records and Seal of the Grand Lodge of West Virginia, 
and he is also a member of the National Geographic Society, American 
Academy of Political and Social Science, Southern Sociological Congress, ete. 


John H. Meek, LL.B. 


Mr. Meek is a native of Kentucky, is the son of Ed and Amy Meek, and 
was born at Louisa, Boyd County, September 8, 1877. He received his 
education in the public schools and at Oakview Academy, at Wayne, West 
Virginia. Later he attended the West Virginia University at Morgantown, 
and graduated from the Law Department, in the class of 1899, with the 
degree of Bachelor of Laws. In the fall of that year he was admitted as a 
member of the Wayne County Bar, where he practiced faithfully for a 
number of years, when he moved his residence to the city of Huntington, 
Cabell County, where he has a large and profitable clientele. He has all 
along been an earnest student and attends strictly to his business, prepares 
his cases with unusual care, and when he goes before a court he is thoroughly 
prepared and knows definitely what he has to establish or defend. He is, 
therefore, clear-headed, systematic, vigilant and thorough in his work. He 
belongs ‘to that class of attorneys who never fail to succeed. He has 
dignified the profession by exhibiting in the practice the highest types of 
integrity, fidelity, learning and wisdom. 

He is a Republican in his political affiliations, but was elected Prosecuting 
Attorney of Wayne County, notwithstanding the fact that the county is 
strongly Democratic, and served faithfully in that important office for two 


474 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


years, during 1906 and 1907, when he resigned, and located in Huntington. 
He is a superior trial lawyer, and handles his cases with judgment, dis- 
cretion and skill. He has never aspired to any office outside of his pro- 
fession, and devotes his undivided time to legitimate law business. 

His practice is of a general character and extends into all the State and 
Federal Courts of West Virginia. He is tall of stature, urbane in manners, 
and is popular, unassuming and courteous in his dealings with his brethren 
of the profession and with the people generally. He is devoted to his pro- 
fession, and interest in his work never flags until he reaches the bottom 
of a case that has been intrusted to him. He, therefore, can be properly 
classed with the safe and sane counselors. 

He married Miss Charlie Burgess in 1901, and has three children. Their 
home is in the charming city of Huntington. 


Thomas Coleman, A.M., LL.B. 


Thomas Coleman, son of Thomas B. and Mary A. Coleman, was born at 
Muses Bottom, Jackson County, West Virginia, and was educated at 
Marietta College, Marietta, Ohio, graduating A.B. with special honors in 
Latin and Philosophy. He then took graduate work at Columbia Uni- 
versity, New York City, receiving the degree of A.M. He was elected 
to the chair of Latin and English in Watson Seminary, at Ashley, Pike 
County, Missouri, where he taught two years. He accepted a position 
in one of the leading banks of New York City, and later was employed 
to gather data in the leading cities of this country and Canada relative to 
the history, methods and administration of the bank clearing-houses of 
both countries. He promptly gathered a wealth of data on this important 
subject. As a result of his investigations an exhaustive treatise on 
clearing-houses was published, which called forth the most flattering 
notices from the banking, financial and other business publications of 
of the country. Almost the entire work was written by Mr. Coleman. 
Having previously decided to become a lawyer, he went to Morgantown and 
took the law course in West Virginia University, remaining until his gradu- 
ation in the class of 1900, receiving the degree of LL.B. He located at 
Parkersburg, and was admitted to the Bar of that city soon after leaving 
the University, where he has since practiced with gratifying success. He 
is the senior member of the law firm of Coleman, Light & Adams. Both of 
his partners, however, are volunteers in the great European War with Ger- 
many, leaving the entire business of the firm in the hands of Mr. Coleman, 
who also has been very active in all phases of war work and service in 
Wood County. 

Mr. Coleman maintains a high rank. He was president of his class in 
the law school, and was chosen one of the four debaters to represent his 
class at Commencement in the public debate which was staged as one of 
the chief features of the Commencement exercises. He is a man of unusual 


THOMAS COLEMAN 


476 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


ability, and great erudition. But few lawyers of his age are as well 
grounded in the fundamental principles of the law as he, and but few who 
have enjoyed as thorough a training. 

He has a large practice in the State and Federal Courts and in the 
Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia. He has been connected with 
a number of notable cases, and has had a full measure of success. 

In polities, he is a Democrat. He was the nominee of his party for the 
State Senate in 1914 and was defeated by 429 votes in a district normally 
Republican, something like 2,000. He is a superior public speaker, which 
is very helpful in his practice. He, therefore, maintains a high rank as a 
courthouse trial lawyer. He is a genial gentleman and is popular with 
his brother attorneys, as well as the people at large. He is a member of 
the M. E. Church, South, and has always shown a keen and generous interest 
in all charitable and philanthropic work. In the upbuilding and reformation 
of the civic life of Parkersburg he has played a very prominent part. He 
is a member of the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity and the local, State and 
American Bar Associations. In December, 1918, he removed to Charleston, 
where he is now practicing. 


James A. Meredith, A.B., LL.B. 


Mr. Meredith, son of Absalom and Catharine (Riley) Meredith, was born 
at Alma, Tyler County, West Virginia, January 27, 1875, and was educated 
at the Normal and Classical Academy at Buckhannon, West Virginia, and 
at the West Virginia University at Morgantown. He completed the course 
at the Academy in 1895, and was a member of the graduating class of the 
State University of 1900, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Later 
he took the law course at the State University and was awarded the degree 
of Bachelor of Laws. He was admitted to practice at Middlebourne, Tyler 
County, the year he left the University. Desiring a wider field in which 
to use his talents and energy, he moved his residence to the city of Fair- 
mont, in Marion County, where he is now conducting a large and profitable 
law business. His practice embraces all branches of the law. He is a hard 
student and works early and late in his profession, and is a safe counselor. 
He has thoroughly mastered the technique of the law, and ranks high as 
a trial lawyer. He prepares his cases thoroughly, and tries them in a 
masterful manner. He is an upright man, and is honest in thought and 
purpose. He never orders a law suit to be brought unless there has been 
an actual breach of the law which shows that there is just cause for a 
verdict. In other words, he is not engaged in the practice for revenue 
only. He is, therefore, careful and thoughtful in giving advice to persons 
seeking his opinion. With his modesty and urbanity go no shadow of 
weakness or lack of decision. On the contrary, he is firm and unchangeable 
in what he believes to be justice and right and his duty as a counselor to 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia ATT 


a client. He is solidly grounded in his profession, is upright in character, 
and shows marked legal ability in important causes in which he is often 
engaged. On the whole, although he is not yet at his best, he has made a 
record to be envied. He is particularly strong as a trial lawyer, being full 
of resources when he finds himself in a close place. His practice extends 
to all the courts of the State and to the general government also. 

Mr. Meredith is a Republican in his political convictions, but has never 
sought or held an office of any kind. He is a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, and is a Freemason and an Elk. He is a Phi Sigma Kappa, 
and is a member of the West Virginia and American Bar Associations. 

He was united in marriage with Miss Gillian Jamison November 18, 1902. 
They have one child. ' 


Hon. Everett F. Moore, B.S. 


Mr. Moore, son of F. T. and Eldora (Redd) Moore, of Marshall County, 
West Virginia, was born at Beeler Station in that county April 29, 1885; 
graduated from the High School at Moundsville, West Virginia, in 1903; 
later he attended the West Virginia University, from which he graduated 
B.S. in the class of 1905, and attended the Law School of the University 
of Virginia, at Charlottesville. one year. He was admitted to practice in 
May, 1906, at Wheeling, West Virginia, where he was a member of the 
firm of Handlan & Reymann for three years, he then located at Mounds- 
ville, the county seat of Marshall County, where he is engaged in active 
practice in all the branches of the law. He has since been admitted as a 
practitioner in all the courts of West Virginia, the United States District 
and Cireuit Courts and the Supreme Court of the United States. By dili- 
gence and fair dealing with his clients and associates he has reached an 
enviable rank in his profession. 

In his political convictions he has always adhered to the principles of 
the Republican party, although he has never been offensively partisan. He 
was elected a member of the West Virginia Legislature and served with 
unusual activity in the session of 1909 to 1911. He was counted one of its 
most valuable members. He was elected a second time a member of the 
Legislature in 1918, was Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and was 
floor leader of his party. He was Solicitor of the City of Moundsville 
three terms of two years each, and served with great efficiency. While in 
publie office, however, he never neglected his legal business, which from 
the first has steadily increased. 

Mr. Moore married Miss Gertrude M. Redd at Denver, Colorado, April 15, 
1914. They have no offspring. They are members of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, and Mr. Moore is a member of the Order of Elks and also 
of the West Virginia and American Bar Associations. His residence is in 
Moundsville, where he has constantly resided since 1908, and is known and 
respected by all the people of that community. 


478 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Waitman H. Conaway 


Mr. Conaway, son of William S. and Mary A. (Arnett) Conaway, was 
born at Barracksville, Marion County, West Virginia, March 5, 1871, and 
was educated in the public schools of that section. He learned the trade 
of a brickmason in which he became proficient, and when he reached his 
majority he decided to become a lawyer. Indeed, for several years, while 
working at his trade, he devoted all of his spare time to the study of legal 
textbooks, in which he had already become quite proficient. He, there- 
fore, through the school of experience and hard knocks made his own way 
and has reached more than an average standing in the greatest of all the 
learned professions. By years of diligent self-culture and hard work he 
has built up a large and profitable clientage, which is steadily increasing 
and becoming more and more profitable as the years go by. He is a broad, 
thorough, conscientious lawyer, devoted to his profession, in which he is 
now taking a leading part. . 

For many years he was the junior member of the law firm of fener: & 
Conaway, of Fairmont, West Virginia, he having been admitted to practice 
in July, 1895. They represented the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company 
in Marion and Wetzel Counties, and the various branches of the Standard 
Oil Company throughout West Virginia. He is a superior trial lawyer, 
and has appeared as counsel in perhaps half of the Cireuit Courts of West 
Virginia, the Supreme Court of Appeals of the State, and the Supreme 
Court of the United States. For several years he had a large number of 
important cases in the United States Court of Claims at Washington, D. 
@., against the United States, known as the Mississippi River Overflow 
Cases in the Southern States, and also damage suits against the Govern- 
ment for the construction of dams in the Monongahela River. Very few, 
if any, lawyers of his age, have appeared in as large a number of courts 
as he. 

He was never a candidate for a public office of any sort, and never held 
an office of any kind. His great grandfather, John Span Conaway, and 
Rachel Willison, his wife, located on Buffalo Creek, Marion County, Vir- 
ginia, in 1789, after the Revolutionary War, in which he was a Captain 
and connected with the Judge Advocate’s Department, coming here from 
Somerset County, Maryland. He is buried on what is believed to be the 
Old Homestead, a photograph of which may be found in a County History 
entitled ‘‘ Marion County in the Making,’’ compiled and edited by the 
members of the James O. Watson, Jr., High School Class. 

His grandfather, William Willison Conaway, lived and died on this farm. 
His wife (Waitman’s grandmother), Rhoda Hendrix Conaway, and Wait- 
man’s father, William Sanford Conaway, and mother, Mary Arnett Cona- 
way, are buried in the Barracksville Cemetery. His father was a member 
of the 6th W. Va. Volunteers in the Union Army. His grandmother being 
married the second time, was a widow pensioner of a soldier of the war 
of 1812, whose name was James Everly. Since 1789 his family has never 


WAITMAN H. CONAWAY 


480 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


lived outside of Fairmont Magisterial District, except Alpheus Conaway, 
a brother of his father, who moved up on Whetstone, near Mannington, in 
Mannington District, Marion County. 

He is very proud of his ancestry, family record and loyalty to his native 
eountry. Some one of the family has been in every war since 1776. 

He married Miss Mary Willa Cavender, December 26, 1898, and has one 
son, Harrison, fifteen years of age. 


Judge Thomas H. Cornett, LL.B. 


The subject of this brief biography, son of Judge George W. Cornett, is 
a native of Independence, Virginia, where he was born September 15, 1862. 
He was educated at Elk Creek Academy, Virginia, Emory and Henry Col- 
lege, Virginia, and graduated from the Law Department of Columbian 
University (now George Washington University, Washington, D. C.) in the 
class of 1887, receiving the degree of LL.B.; was admitted to the Bar at 
Kearney, Nebraska, in September, 1887; remained there until 1893; in the 
meantime he was elected Probate Judge of Buffalo County; served one 
term, and was re-elected to the same office for a second term and served 
the full time. He returned to Independence, Virginia, his birthplace, 
where he formed a partnership with his father and brother, under the firm 
name of Cornett & Cornett, where he remained six years. In April, 1899, 
he located at New Martinsville, the county seat of Wetzel County, West 
Virginia, where he has since conducted a profitable and successful law busi- 
ness. His business is not confined to any particular branch of the law, but 
is general in its character, and is in the State and Federal Courts, including 
the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, where he has a large line 
of important cases. He has had a long and varied experience at the Bar 
and is thoroughly grounded in all branches of the profession, and has 
reached an enviable rank among his brother attorneys. 

He married Miss Mary Louise Culver, of Washington, D. C., and they 
have two children, a son and daughter. 

Judge Cornett is a Republican, is a member of the M. E. Church, also 
of ail the branches of Freemasonry and the State Bar Association. He is 
a prominent member of the State Legal Advisory Board in the present 
World War; is Chairman of the Civilian Relief of Wetzel Chapter of the 
American Red Cross; is a member of the Fuel Committee, and is one of the 
popular Four Minute War Speakers in that section of the State. 


John Coleman Simpson 


Our subject is the son of John Chidister and Ellen B. (Neff) Simpson, 
and was born at Moundsville, Marshall County, West Virginia, October 3, 
1864. He received his education in the Moundsville publie schools and 
also several terms in a private school where the higher branches were 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 481 


taught. He read law systematically under a private instructor (Robert 
McConnell, Esq.) and was admitted as a member of the Marshall County 
Bar, November 1, 1885, where he has since practiced with more than ordi- 
nary success. When he entered the profession he formed a partnership 
with Charles A. Showacre, and they practiced together for twenty-five 
years under the firm name of Simpson & Showacre. Both of them were 
hard workers and they in due time built up a successful and profitable 
business. For the past eight years, however, Mr. Simpson has been prac- 
ticing alone and has all the business he can attend to. He practices in 
the Circuit Courts, and the Supreme Court of Appeals of the State, and 
the United States District Court for the Northern District of West Vir- 
ginia, and in the Cireuit Court of Appeals of the United States for the 
Fourth Judicial Cireuit. His practice is of a general character and 
embraces all branches of the law. 

Mr. Simpson is a forceful and graceful speaker and tries his cases well, 
He is a thorough lawyer and a good man and is devoted to his profession. 
He is known as responsible and upright, and has the confidence and respect 
of his brother attorneys and the people who know him. As a lawyer he is 
classed as a safe and sane counselor, and is thorough and accurate and has 
a firm grasp of legal principles. He is well and favorably known in his 
section of the State as a man of integrity and honor. 

He married Miss Laura V. Purdy, of Moundsville, April 24, 1895. They 
have three daughters. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church, the 
Order of Elks, the Knights of Pythias and the West Virginia and American 
Bar Associations. Since our country has been involved in war with Ger- 
many he has been an active member of the Legal Advisory Board of 
Marshall County and has rendered valuable service to his State and 
Country. 

Mr. Simpson served four years as Postmaster of the City of Moundsville, 
from 1893 to 1897, and gave entire satisfaction to the people. 


Col. Richard Randolph McMahon, A.M. 


Robert Louis Stevenson aptly wrote, ‘‘ Not only do our characters and 
talents lie upon the anvil and receive their temper during generations, but 
the very plat of our life’s story unfolds itself on a scale of centuries, and 
the biography of a man is only an episode in the epic of the family.’’ Our 
subject’s grandfather, Thomas Bentley McMahon, was born in County 
Clare, Ireland, and came of the family that gave to France her Marshal 
President. His son, Sion Bentley McMahon, was a Canadian by birth, who 
came to Fauquier County, Virginia, in 1850, and there married Miss Mary 
Randolph. Ten children resulted from this marriage, the subject of this 
sketch being the second, who was born at Alexandria, Virginia, July 30, 
1854. He was liberally educated at St. John’s Academy, Alexandria, and 


16 


482 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Georgetown University, District of Columbia. After completing his col- 
legiate course he spent some time in Europe, and upon his return was 
associated with his alma mater as adjunct professor of Latin and English, 
but on account of ill-health he was forced to resign after three years of 
successful service in that capacity. In 1877 he removed to West Virginia, 
devoting the most of his time to journalism. In 1878 he was appointed 
by Governor Mathews an honorary Commissioner to represent the State 
at the Paris Exposition, but declined the appointment. The same Execu- 
tive appointed him as a Colonel and Aide-de-Camp on his personal staff. 

Later he began the study of law and pursued the same with his usual 
earnestness and vigor until he was qualified for admission to the Bar. In 
1881 after passing an excellent examination he was appointed Law Clerk 
to the First Comptroller of the United States Treasury. He showed special 
aptness for this semi-judicial work, and four years later he was promoted 
by President Cleveland to the honorable and responsible position of Deputy 
Second Comptroller, whose duty it was to adjust and settle all accounts 
of the Army and Navy and the Indian Establishment. In this high and 
exalted office Colonel McMahon served most efficiently for four years, and 
the numerous important decisions he rendered were all imbued with the 
spirit of fairness and liberality. Distinguished in personal appearance, 
dignified, graceful and affable in manner, he is, withal, modest and unas- 
suming, with ready sympathies, a keen sense of humor, and a refined and 
cultured taste in literature. He is solidly grounded in his profession, and 
shows marked ability in the preparation of his cases. After leaving the 
Comptroller’s office he began practice in Washington, and was not long in 
securing a profitable clientage. He, however, never relinquished his resi- 
dence at Harpers Ferry, where he has lived since 1885, spending a part of 
every week at that historic, picturesque town, where the Potomae River 
plowed its way through the Blue Ridge chain of mountains —a place of 
scenic grandeur and beauty. 

In November, 1881, Colonel McMahon wedded Miss Emma Stringfellow 
Young, who several years ago, in the bloom of womanhood, passed on to 
‘“ the summer land of song.’’ They had no children. Their home-life at 
‘: Jefferson Place ’’ was ideal. Colonel McMahon is naturally hopeful 
and happy. Among his friends he is always social, joyous and happy. 
He is devoted to his home and loved the evening communion of the family 
circle. He has ever been an upright citizen, keenly interested in the social 
welfare and in the betterment of the human mass. 

Colonel McMahon was reared a Democrat, but when that party fathered 
the free and unlimited coinage of silver he joined the Republican party, and 
has since taken an active interest in its councils. He has never been a 
candidate for any elective office, but has filled several important appointive 
positions, such as Delegate to State, Congressional and National Conventions 
of the Republican party. He served a term as a Regent of the West Vir- 
ginia University during the administration of Governor Atkinson. His 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 485 


learning and culture were most valuable to that great educational insti- 
tution. Im 1903 he was a Delegate to the American Bar Association. Since 
1907 he has been a member of the Board of Directors of Columbia Hospital 
for Women, a Federal institution in the District of Columbia, serving with- 
out compensation. He was President of the Board from 1908 to 1914. He 
enjoys the respect and esteem of every person who knows him personally. 


Samuel Paris Bell 


Mr. Bell is a son of Wm. EH. and Rachel Rebecea (Ferrell) Bell, and was 
born at Grantsville, Calhoun County, West Virginia, July 23, 1870. In the 
English branches of the public schools he received the training necessary 
to enable him to become a teacher at the age of sixteen, which occupation 
he followed industriously for a few years; in the meantime he was storing 
his mind with additional knowledge by carefully reading and studying the 
best books that came within his reach. At the age of twenty-one he was 
eleeted County Surveyor of Lands of his native county, and later was 
re-elected to the same office, but he resigned before the second term expired. 
He then entered the law office of John M. Hamilton, who subsequently was 
elected a member of the Congress of the United States, and began the 
systematic reading of the legal textbooks under his direction. He, how- 
ever, while teaching school, and while he was County Surveyor, had devoted 
all of his spare time to the study of the fundamental principles of the law. 
Under Mr. Hamilton’s tutelage he remained until he was able to pass the 
required examination for admission to the Bar. He was duly licensed and 
was admitted a member of the Calhoun County Bar in 1896. He formed a 
partnership with A. G. Mathews at Grantsville, which continued until 1910, 
when Walter Pendleton, of Roane County, was taken into the firm, and 
offices were established at Spencer, Grantsville and Point Pleasant in 
Mason County, Mr. Bell taking charge of the Point Pleasant office, where 
he now resides. The firm is now conducting a profitable business at all 
three of the county seats named, and is known as an able, popular and 
aggressive team for the trial of causes in all the different courts. 

Mr. Bell has had experience in the newspaper business as editor of ‘the 
*“ Calhoun Chronicle,’’ published at Grantsville, the ‘‘ Mountain State Odd 
Fellow ’’ and the ‘‘ Methodist Laymen’s Herald,’’ the official organ of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, South, of West Virginia. He, however, is not 
editing these papers at the present time, but is devoting all of his energies 
to the practice of his profession. His firm practices in all the State and 
Federal Courts in half a dozen or more counties in the State. 

Mr. Bell holds membership in the Masonic, Knights of Pythias and Odd 
Fellows Orders, and was Grand Master in West Virginia of the latter in 
1905 and 1906, and was its representative to the Supreme Grand Lodge 


484 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


in 1907 and 1908. He is also a member of the M. E. Church, South, in 
active service. He married Miss Ona Belle Stump, July 12, 1893, and is 
the father of eight children. 

In polities Mr. Bell is a Democrat, and was the nominee of his party for 
Judge of the Circuit Court of the Fifth Circuit in 1912, but was defeated 
in the general election, along with the rest of his party ticket, although he 
ran more than 1,000 votes ahead of his ticket, which shows that he has a 
large popular following among the people who know him and with whom 
he associates. His private and public life are without a blemish. 


Frank A. O’Brien, LL.B. 


The subject of this sketch, son of Honorable Thomas O’Brien, a former 
Treasurer of the State of West Virginia, now deceased, and in his day a 
man of State-wide influence and reputation, was born in the City of Wheel- 
ing, May 20, 1882; attended Mount St. Mary’s College, Emmettsburg, 
Maryland, from 1896 to 1900, inclusive, taking the complete course of 
study, and from which institution the degree of LL.B. was afterward con- 
ferred upon him, and in 1901 he graduated from the Western University 
of Pennsylvania. Having decided to become a lawyer he immediately 
entered the Law Department of the West Virginia University at Morgan- 
town, graduating in the class of 1903. He returned to his home in Wheel- 
ing and was admitted as a member of the Ohio County Bar May 20, 1913, 
where he has since practiced. He and his older brother, J. J. P. O’Brien, 
became partners, under the firm name of O’Brien & O’Brien, which still 
exists, and has become one of the well-known law firms in the City of 
Wheeling. Both of them possessing rugged intellects, being thoroughly 
tiained in the technique of the profession, and both being gifted in the art 
of public speaking it was not long until they had a large criminal practice, 
which steadily grew later into a profitable law and chancery business, and 
is constantly growing as the years go by. It is a fact worthy of note 
that the senior brother is a strenuous Democrat, while the junior is just 
as determined and pronounced a Republican in his political convictions; 
and it is not a made up matter between them, because their father was a 
Democrat, and an elder deceased brother was a rather rabid Republican. 

The Wheeling O’Briens are a noted family for native ability and 
integrity. They are men of the highest ideals of honor and uprightness. 
They have always stood forth as men whose personal characters are above 
reproach; and thus the subject of this sketch stands unchallenged today, 
which is the prime reason that he has won success in life. He is well 
grounded in the law, is an earnest student, a never ceasing toiler, and 
stands four-square before all men. He possesses a vigor and inquisitiveness 
of mind which cause him to study his cases thoroughly before entering 
upon trial. He is, therefore, known as a safe and successful trial lawyer. 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 485 


He is naturally chivalrous and magnanimous in his disposition, and always 
treats his adversaries with proper consideration and respect. In social 
life he is a model of courtesy and amiability, and at the same time he is 
alert and sedulous in the preparation of his cases. He is a safe and sane 
practitioner and counselor. His practice embraces all branches of the law 
in all the State and Federal Courts. 

Mr. O’Brien married Miss Estelle Schlandecker, June 12, 1909, and they 
have four children. In politics, as stated above, he is a Republican, and 
in religious convictions he is a Roman Catholic. He is a member of the 
Benevolent Order of Elks, the Knights of Columbus, and the Beta Theta 
Pi Greek letter fraternity and also the Delta Chi law fraternity. 

The only political office he ever held was Assistant Prosecuting Attorney 
of Ohio County, which he ably filled from April, 1915, to December 10, 1916. 
He has never sought an office of any kind outside the strict line of his 
profession, his purpose being to devote all his time and energies to dis- 
tinctive legal work. 


Judge Clarence Rand Burdette, LL.B. 


Our subject, son of the late Hon. William T. Burdette. a brilliant lawyer 
of the Kanawha Bar, who departed this life while comparatively young in 
years, and Ellen (Rand) Burdette, is a native of Charleston, and was born 
September 8, 1874. He graduated in 1894 from the Charleston High School, 
and after deciding upon the law for a profession entered the West Vir- 
ginia University at Morgantown, and graduated therefrom in the class of 
1897, receiving the diploma of Bachelor of Laws. Soon after leaving the 
University he was admitted to membership of the Kanawha Bar, and has 
since practiced with considerable success. He has a strong legal mind, is 
thoroughly versed in legal principles, and possesses many natural gifts 
which are bringing him to the front. His practice has been mainly in the 
Circuit Court and the United States District Court for the Southern Dis- 
trict of West Virginia. He has also tried several cases in the Supreme 
Court of Appeals of the State, where he has acquitted himself satisfac- 
torily and successfully. He is one of the most urbane and courteous of 
men, and the light which illuminates his mind is kindled in his heart and 
shines with the brightest of lustre. He is also a man of an exceedingly 
amiable character, and while possessing firmness in his convictions, he is 
never overbearing or unjust to those who oppose him, but is kind and 
obliging in his disposition, polite and courteous in his professional ethics 
and social manners. 

He has been Judge of the Police Court of the City of Charleston for 
nearly two years past, and has shown marked ability in the disposition of 
the many cases brought before him. He possesses the judicial temperament 
and an unusually sound judgment. Hence his record in that difficult posi- 


486 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


tion has been commended by the people generally. He disposes of cases 
with rapidity, firmness and fairness. His record in that position has 
marked him as an official of merit and ability. 

He married Mrs. Pearl Bennett by whom he has two children. 

In his religious convictions he is a Presbyterian, and in polities a 
Democrat. 


He is also a member of the Loyal Order of Moose. 


James F. Shipman, A.M., LL.B. 


Mr. Shipman is the son of Walter and Josephine (Coldren) Shipman, of 
Sunbury, Pennsylvania. His father and grandfather were prominent law- 
yers, and from them he inherited a desire, no doubt, to follow in their 
footsteps. He was born at Sunbury, Pennsylvania, October 29, 1884, and 
was thoroughly educated for the legal profession. He started in the public 
schools; was two years (1898 to 1900) in Bucknell Academy at Lewisburg, 
Pennsylvania; graduated A.B. from Lafayette College in the class of 1905 
at Easton, Pennsylvania; graduated LL.B. from the Dickinson College 
School of Law in the class of 1909, at Carlisle, Pennsylvania. In the 
meantime he took post graduate studies at Dickinson College, and was 
awarded in 1909 the degree of A.M., pro merito. September 13, 1909, he 
was admitted to the Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, Bar. He 
practiced law with his father for about a year in Sunbury, Pennsylvania, 
when he decided to change his residence and located at Moundsville, West 
Virginia, and was admitted to the Bar of Marshall County, West Virginia, 
October 24, 1910, where he has since resided and is engaged in active 
practice. For a short time after locating at Moundsville he was associated 
in the practice with Martin Brown and E. F. Moore, but is now engaged 
in individual practice. His practice embraces all branches of the law in 
all the State and United States Courts of West Virginia, including the 
Supreme Court of Appeals, in all of which he has been more than suc- 
cessful. As a lawyer he is thorough and accurate, and has a firm grasp of 
legal principles. He is optimistic and cheerful, and possesses the knack 
of making friends and drawing them closely around him. Interest in his 
work never flags until he gets to the bottom of his cases. He is an ener- 
getic, trustworthy young lawyer, and possesses the necessary elements 
which promise abundant success. But few attorneys possess his knowledge 
of the technique of the learned profession. 

He filled the office of Solicitor of the City of Moundsville for two years, 
from June, 1911, to May, 1913, and discharged the duties most satisfae- 
torily. In polities he is a Democrat and in religion a Methodist. He is a 
Freemason and an Elk, and is a member of the Delta Chi Law Fraternity. 
He is also an active member of the West Virginia Bar Association. 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 487 


He married Miss Mary E. Maxwell, September 20, 1911, by whom he has 
one child, a son. By nature he is extremely social and agreeable, and is a 
gentleman of solid and deserved popularity. 

In addition to his other accomplishments, Mr. Shipman is a shorthand 
reporter of ability, and in that capacity has served all of the Courts of 
his District and has also reported the proceedings of the West Virginia 
Bar Association. 


Benjamin H. Blagg 


The subject of this sketch is a native of West Virginia; is the son of 
B. H. and Sarah (Spicer) Blagg, and was born near Crawford, Lewis County, 
Virginia, February 4, 1860. The main part of his education was received 
in publie schools of that county and the systematic reading and study of 
standard books on various educational subjects, and also in occasional 
teaching; of all which he made good use. He took much interest in educa- 
tional subjects and was a faithful supporter of the free school system of 
the State. In this work he was quite successful. He located in Mason 
County many years ago, and in 1898 he was elected County Superintendent 
of the Public Schools of that county, and acquitted himself in that educa- 
tional position most creditably to the satisfaction of the public, and par- 
ticularly those interested in educational work. While engaged in public 
school work, he decided to become a lawyer, and began to turn his thoughts 
and energies in that direction. When his four years’ term as County Super- 
intendent expired he went to Morgantown and became a student in the Law 
Department of the West Virginia University, and remained there until he 
completed the prescribed course of studies. In 1902 he returned to his 
home in Mason County and was admitted to the Bar of that county, where 
he has since practiced. 

Mr. Blagg is naturally industrious, and is conscientious and generous even 
to a fault. The people knew him and trusted him implicitly; consequently 
he was not long in bringing to himself a profitable clientage. His practice 
is not limited to any particular branch of the profession, but embraces all 
departments of the law, and has extended to immediate adjacent counties. 
In recent years he is handling a large number of cases in the Supreme 
Court of Appeals that go up from Mason County to that court of last resort. 
He has gained strength by experience, fair dealing, attentiveness to business 
and upright methods of living, which have made for him an extensive 
reputation as a safe counselor and a successful practitioner. 

He was a Justice of the Peace from 1889 to 1897; that gave him unusual 
familiarity with the statutes of the State, which, coupled with his large 
common sense, rendered him specially qualified as a dispenser of real, genuine 
justice between man and man, which, by the way, should be not only the 
leading purpose of Justices of the Peace and the Judges of all our courts, 
but also of the lawyers as well. He was nominated by the Republicans, 


488 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


- 


and was elected by the people, in 1908, to the responsible office of Prosecut- 
ing Attorney of Mason County, which he filled with great acceptability to 
the people for a full four years’ term. In this position he performed his 
duties without fear of, or favor to, any litigant that came before him. 

In or outside of his county, Mr. Blagg has always stood four-square before 
the world as a just and honest man. 

Mr. Blagg is married and is the father of seven children, one of whom 
is a successful practicing lawyer in Charleston, the Capital City of the 
State, who is favorably mentioned in another part of this volume. 


Leo Loeb, LL.B. 


Mr. Loeb, son of Charles and Hattie Loeb, of Charleston, West Virginia, 
was born in Charleston, Kanawha County, January 4, 1877, and was edu- 
cated in the public schools of Charleston, graduating in the High School 
class of 1897. Later he attended the University of Virginia, and still later 
he graduated in 1902 from the Law Department of the West Virginia 
University with the degree of LL.B. In the autumn of that year he was 
admitted to practice in the Cireuit Court of Kanawha County. Later on he 
was received as a practitioner in the Federal Courts of the State and the 
Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia. Before he entered upon his 
course of study at the University he spent five years in Charleston in 
newspaper work, mainly for the advantage it would be to him in his pro- 
fession as a lawyer, which he had previously decided to take for his life 
work; and no doubt it was time well spent. Journalism is most helpful to 
“‘tree out’’ one’s mind, to enable him to think properly, with exactness 
and precision, in any profession, and more especially the profession of 
the law. 

Mr. Loeb is naturally industrious, and applies himself assiduously to 
anything he undertakes. As a lawyer, if not in attendance upon a court, 
he will be found, at any reasonable hour, at his office desk reading a law 
book or pondering over a case which he is preparing for trial. He is not 
only industrious, but he is a master of details. He goes after every feature 
of every ease entrusted to him. He takes nothing for granted, but goes to 
the bottom of the facts and the law. If he has a specialty, we would say 
it is in the line of commercial practice. He, however, deals in all the 
branches of the law. He is thoroughly honorable in all transactions, and 
when he becomes an attorney for anyone in any kind of a case, one can he 
assured that no feature of it will be neglected. Although he is compara- 
tively a young man, he has made a good record and has built up a profitable 
business, is living on ‘‘Easy Street’’ and is known as a thoroughly con- 
seientious attorney and counselor. 

He is a Democrat in his political convictions, but has never been a seeker 
after office. The only public office he has thus far held is a member of 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 489 


the City Council of Charleston, of which body he is President. As in his 
law business, he is always in attendance, and discharges his public duties 
faithfully and honorably. He can be justly classed as a reliable public 
servant. He is also an active and influential member of the Charleston 
Chamber of Commerce, and performs his duties in that body cheerfully, 
honorably and intelligently. He is courteous and kindly disposed in all his 
private and public acts. 

Fraternally Mr. Loeb is a member of the Order of Elks, and in college 
he was a Delta Chi. In religious convictions he is a Jew, and in politics 
a Democrat, as stated above. 

He married Miss Dora Bekenstein, of Charleston, and has three chi'dren. 
Their home is on the Southside high ground of the Capital City. 


Isaac Grant Lazzelle, A.M., LL.B. 


Our subject is one of the leading attorneys of the Morgantown, West 
Virginia, Bar. He is the son of James and Eleanor (Courtney) Lazzelle, 
and was born in Monongalia County, Virginia, May 10, 1862. He received 
his scholastic training in the public schools of Monongalia County and at 
the West Virginia University, from which he graduated in the class of 1883, 
receiving the classical degree of Bachelor of Arts. In 1884 he was grad- 
uated froin the Law Department, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. In 
1886 the University gave him the degree of Master of Arts, in cursu. He 
was admitted to the Monongalia County Bar at Morgantown in 1885. Before 
entering upon the regular practice of his profession he was principal of the 
public schools of Kingwood, Preston County, where he remained one year. 
He spent two years as principal of the public schools at La Grange, 
Arkansas. Having equipped himself for the practice of the law, he returned 
to Morgantown and opened a law office, and with Edgar B. Stewart as a 
partner, the firm of Lazzelle & Stewart entered the field as attorneys and 
counselors-at-law. This proved to be a fortunate association as the firm did 
a large and important business, gaining from the outset the good will and 
confidence of an influential clientele. It may he briefly stated that Mr. 
Lazzelle’s entire career as a lawyer has been successful in every respect. 
For many years he has maintained a high rank among the able lawyers who 
compose the Morgantown Bar. 

He is a Republican in politics, and in 1912 was the candidate of his party 
for membership in the State Senate of West Virginia. 

He was Mayor of the city of Morgantown in 1894 and 1895, and in 1896 
he was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Monongalia County and served 
faithfully and well. He proved to be a vigorous prosecutor of law violators, 
and during his four years’ term he acquitted himself with both credit and 
honor. In addition to a large law practice, he has found time to engage 
in quite a number of outside business enterprises. He was President of the 


490 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


~ 


Morgantown Bridge & Investment Company, of the Deckars Valley Lumber 
Company and of the Guardian Investment Company. He is also a director 
of a bank and a number of other local business institutions. He has shown 
himself to be one of the leading, progressive, enterprising, public spirited 
citizens of the rapidly developing city of Morgantown, where practically, 
thus far, his entire life has been spent. 

He is a leading member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and is a 
Trustee of the lecal church at Morgantown. He has devoted considerable 
time to educational matters, and was President of the local School Board 
when the present handsome High School building was erected. In 1891 he 
was united in marriage with Miss Nora H. Jackson of Kingwood, West Vir- 
ginia, by whom he has two children — Donald G., who graduated in the law 
course of the West Virginia University in 1917, and Eugene Lazzelle, 
deceased. 


Dabney Carr Terrell Davis, Jr. 


Mr. Davis is a native of Virginia, and was born at Charlottesville, 
Albemarle County, March 7, 1867. He is the son of the Reverend Dabney 
C. T. Davis, Sr., and Mary B. Davis. He received his education in prepara- 
tory schools of his native county and in the University of Virginia, and was 
admitted to the Greenbrier County Bar at Lewisburg, West Virginia, in 
1897, where he practiced his profession until a few years ago when he 
moved to Charleston and became a member of the well known law firm of 
Watts, Davis & Davis, who conducted a large and profitable business, 
covering all the branches of the profession, in all the courts of West 
Virginia, both State and Federal. He is a man of striking appearance, tall, 
erect and of rather serious mold, although he is kindly disposed and is 
very companionable. He is a man of solid rather than of shining qualities, 
and his life is redolent of uprightness and proper conceptions of duty, and 
an utter absence of display or harshness. He is dignified, forceful and 
affable in manner, and withal is modest and unassuming. He is solidly 
grounded in his profession, and shows marked legal ability in important 
trials of causes. He is also a man of upright and blameless personal charac- 
ter, and has the confidence and respect of the lawyers with whom he prac- 
tices, as well as the laymen who know him in business and social relations. 

Mr. Davis was twice married — first to Miss Mary Miller Mathews in 
1897; second to Mrs. Mary R. Elliott in 1910. He has no children. He is 
a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and is a Democrat in his 
political convictions. He has never held a public office of any kind because 
he never had a desire in that direction. He is a lawyer and not a politician. 

He is a member of the Phi Delta Theta College Fraternity. His home is 
in the city of Charleston, where he has many warm friends and social 
admirers. 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 491 


Clarence E. Copen 


C. E. Copen, son of William A. and Alice Copen, was born in Wirt County, 
West Virginia, December 8, 1877, and was educated in the public schools 
and at the West Virginia University at Morgantown. After leaving the 
University he became a public school teacher for a few years, in which 
profession he was a pronounced success. During this period he decided to 
become a lawyer, and began the systematic reading of legal textbooks, 
which he kept up until 1904, when he was equipped to pass the rigid exam- 
ination required by the West Virginia statute, and was, in that year, 
admitted to practice as a member of the Wirt County Bar, where he carried 
on a lucrative business in his native and adjoining counties. Being desirous 
to widen his field of labor, he moved to Huntington in Cabell County, where 
he became a member of the firm of Doolittle, Copen & Davis, which firm 
was dissolved by the death of Judge Doolittle. At this time, and for a 
few years past, he maintains an office at Winfield, Putnam County, where 
he spends a limited portion of his time each month. His present firm at 
Huntington is Copen & Darnell. 

For the first few years his practice was mainly on the criminal side of 
the courts, because he was gifted as a public speaker, and, therefore, was a 
strong and successful advocate, especially before juries; but in later years 
he has given the most of his time and energies to civil practice, which he 
finds much more profitable and far more satisfactory. As a side issue he 
was connected with the publication of a weekly newspaper, which gave 
him an experience and knowledge that was very helpful to him as a trial 
lawyer, and added to his influence both as a lawyer and a citizen. He, 
however, did not allow this, in any way, to interfere with his business as 
a lawyer, as his practice steadily grew larger as the years passed by. 

He was two years (1905 and 1906) Prosecuting Attorney of his native 
county, and, having had an extensive experience in criminal practice, he 
made an enviable record as a prosecutor of violators of the penal statutes 
of the State. This experience proved to be of large value to him in 
broadening his grasp of the fundamental principles of the law, thus fitting 
him for a wider field of usefulness in his chosen profession. 

Mr. Copen is a Republican in his political convictions, but he has never 
been an extremist, nor has he ever allowed politics to interfere with his 
professional business. His one set purpose has been to make good as a 
lawyer, which he has succeeded in doing. 

He is a member of the Baptist Church, and always takes the moral side 
of all questions that come before the people. He is also an active member 
of the Knights of Pythias, an institution which stands for good morals and 
good citizenship. September 24, 1898, he was united in marriage with 
Miss Rosa M. Mason. As a result of this union they have four children, 
all boys. Their home is at Huntington, the seat of justice of Cabell County, 
where they have many friends. 


492 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Mr. Copen’s’ practice is of a general character, and extends into all the 
courts of West Virginia, both State and Federal. He handles his eases well, 
and is measurably successful. He is agreeable and courteous, and has a 
large following of friends both in and outside of his profession. 


Charles M. Alderson, B.L., LL.B. 


Mr. Alderson is the son of S. I. and Martha J. Alderson, and was born 
in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, in 1867. The Aldersons were among 
the very early settlers of the Greenbrier Valley, and were an active factor 
in building the history of the southern portion of what now comprises the 
State of West Virginia. He was educated at the Concord Normal School 
at Athens, Mercer County, West Virginia, and at the University of Nash- 
ville, Nashville, Tennessee, from which latter institution he graduated in 
the class of 1891, with the degree of Bachelor of Letters. Having deter- 
mined upon the law for a profession, he entered the Law Department of 
the West Virginia University, and graduated therefrom in the elass of 1893, 
receiving the degree of Bachelor of Laws. In the fall of that year he was 
admitted to membership in the Greenbrier County Bar. Shortly thereafter 
he located at Charleston, Kanawha County, opened a law office, and has 
since practiced. 

Mr. Alderson is a man of marked personal appearance; is a little more 
than six feet in height; is erect as an Indian, his features are strong, and 
he is genial and companionable. To know him personally is to be his friend 
and admirer. His personal habits are the very best, and he is industrious 
and honorable. For many years he served as one of the attorneys of the 
Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Company in West Virginia, and has handled 
much of that company’s important legal business. He is of a quiet, reserved 
disposition, and is always found at his post of duty. As a lawyer he is 
thorough and accurate and has a firm grasp of legal principles, and is an 
educated, polished gentleman. He is also deeply interested in the develop- 
ment and growth of the community in which he resides, and is properly 
classed among the public-spirited men of the Great Kanawha Valley. He 
possesses a vigor, perseverance and an inquisitiveness of mind which per- 
mits nothing to pass from under his observation without his thorough com- 
prehension of its character. His nature and disposition is to keep out of the 
limelight, and settle controversies outside of court forums as far as it is 
possible honorably and fairly so to do. In this respect he is particularly a 
safe and sane counselor. He considers his cases carefully and never acts 
upon impulses and half-baked conclusions. In social life he is generous and 
kind, courteous and affable in his demeanor to all classes, and consequently 
has no enemies. 

His practice is of a general character and extends into nearly all the 
southern counties of West Virginia, in both State and Federal Courts. 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 493, 


In 1903 he married Miss Mary E. Comstock, of Charleston, a member of 
one of the oldest and best known families of the Great Kanawha Valley, 
by whom he has three children. They are all members of the Presbyterian 
Church, and maintain a high social standing where they are all well and 
favorably known and are highly esteemed. Mr. Alderson is also a Free- 
mason of high rank in the city of his adoption. He is a Democrat in his 
political affiliations, but never allows politics to interfere with his business 
as a lawyer. He never held an office of any sort, because he never wanted to. 

Mr. Alderson is devoted to his home, and loves the communion of the 
family circle. In this respect he is ideal, and no man of our acquaintance 
enjoys more fully the personal associations of his legions of friends. 


Hon. Benjamin H. Oxley 


Mr. Oxley, voungest of eight children of Jenkins Madison and Eliza- 
beth Miles Oxley, was born in Franklin County, Virginia, June 19, 1853. 
He and an only sister survive, two brothers having lost their lives in the 
cause of the South during the Civil War, the others, except one sister, 
having died young. His ancestors, on his father’s side, came from England 
to Canada, early in the 17th century, afterwards moving to Virginia; his 
mother’s ancestors were, on her father’s side, also English, while on her 
mother’s side they were Scotch-Irish, being among the earliest settlers in 
the Valley of Virginia. 

At the age of six he began attending subscription or private schools in 
his native county, but when old enough to commence working on the farm 
went to school in winter only, until, at the age of fifteen, he came with his 
parents to Lincoln County, West Virginia, settling on a farm near Griffiths- 
ville, teaching in the public schools in winter and helping to run the farm 
the rest of the while. 

When twenty-one he commenced attending local normal schools during the 
summer months continuing teaching in winter, and later on began reading 
law during his spare time, and in 1879 he was granted a license to practice 
law by the Supreme Court of Appeals, composed of Judges Greene, Hay- 
mond, Moore and Johnson. He then located at Hamlin, Lincoln County, 
attending regularly, for a number of years, the courts of that county as 
well as those of Boone and Logan. He was frequently, in the absence of 
Judges of Circuit Courts, chosen by the Bar, in these respective counties, to 
hold terms of courts. He has been also admitted to practice in both the 
Supreme Court of the State and in the United States Courts. 

Mr. Oxley is the author of a law book, ‘‘ Instructions to Juries, by 
West Virginia Courts,’’ containing both the legal principles laid down by 
the Supreme Court relating to that subject, as well as numerous forms, hav- 
ing the approval of our Appellate Court. The work is considered, by the 
legal profession, as authority on Instructions. 


494 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


In politics he has always been a Democrat, yet stands aloof from machine 
and ring rule. He is a Mason and a member of the Presbyterian Church. 

He represented Lincoln County in the House of Delegates in the session 
of 1885, and was elected to the State Senate from the old Seventh District, 
composed of seven counties, in 1886, serving during the regular sessions of 
1887 and 1889. During the latter year he made Charleston his home, where 
he still resides. For five years he was a bookkeeper in the State Auditor’s 
office until in 1890, when he was appointed by Governor Fleming to the 
position of Adjutant-General and ex officio State Librarian, his term as 
such ending in March, 1893. Afterwards, for four years, he was Assistant 
Clerk of the Supreme Court of Appeals of the State. March 26, 1918, he 
was, by Governor Cornwell, appointed State Librarian. 

May 6, 1889, he was united in marriage with Miss Fannie Burton, of 
Charleston, West Virginia. They have two living children, one a son, 
Edward, who, while engaged in Agricultural Extension work in Nevada, 
enlisted in the United States Navy, and afterwards, having been granted 
an honorable discharge, has resumed his former duties, being now located 
in Arizona, and a daughter, Frances, now a student in college. 


David Milton Easley, LL.B. 


David M. Easley, son of John W. and Minerva B. Easley, was born at 
Pearisburg, Giles County, Virginia, March 10, 1875; was educated in the 
public schools of his native county, and at the Pearisburg Academy of 
Giles County in the ‘‘Mother State.’’ Later he entered the Legal Depart- 
ment of the West Virginia University at Morgantown, from which he 
graduated in the class of 1900, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws, which 
under the West Virginia statutes authorized him to practice law, without 
further examination. He was promptly received as a member of the Mercer 
County Bar at Princeton in August of that year. Having decided to locate 
in the city of Bluefield, he lost no time in opening a law office and entering 
upon the active practice of his chosen profession in that rapidly developing 
section of the State. Being well grounded in the fundamental principles 
of the law, and being industrious and attentive to his calling, he was 
measurably successful from the start; and with the experience which comes 
to one with active service, he has made good progress, which is steadily 
on the increase. He is a Democrat in politics, but has shown but little taste 
for that branch of public service which usually attracts the attention of 
young lawyers, and has devoted his time and his attention exclusively to the 
development of his profession, and the broadening and increasing his knowl- 
edge of the law, which he resolved, in early life, to make his life study. 
All good Iawyers will say that he started wisely, and if he adheres faith- 
fully to what he has thus far accomplished there can be no doubt as to his 
attaining the top rungs in the ladder of the great profession in his adopted 


D. M. EASLEY 


496 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


State. Thus far ‘‘he has run well,’’ but there are still wider fields for 
him to conquer. His career has been able and exemplary and is more than 
gratifying to his many friends. We repeat that thus far, in Seripture 
language, ‘‘he has run well.’’ He is accurate in the preparation of his 
pleadings, is courteous in his demeanor, fair and just to his clients, upright 
in his dealings with others, and tries his cases with energy and foree. He 
is what is usually termed a successful trial lawyer. From what we have 
been able to learn of him, we are safe in classifying him with the able and 
successful lawyers of his age. 

His practice is not confined to any particular branch of the profession, 
but is general in its character, and embraces all the State and Federal 
Courts in West Virginia. 

Mr. Easley is married and has one child, and as we have already said, 
he has made his permanent home in the city of Bluefield, where his Peaaeae 
has grown to satisfactory proportions. ‘ 


Hon. Ellis Asby Yost 


Mr. Yost is a native of Fairview, Marion County, West Virginia, son of 
R. W. and Elzena J. Yost, born December 12, 1872. Like some of the most 
illustrious examples of men who have made their influence widely felt in 
publie affairs in State and nation, he was born and grew to manhood on a 
farm, and the foundation of his education was laid in the publie schools 
of his native county. In those schools he developed a thirst for knowledge, 
which he, by pluck and perseverance, secured at the Ohio Northern Uni- 
versity at Ada and the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware. In these 
well-known colleges he received a thorough, liberal education, which proved 
of incalculable value to him in his professional and business career. Like 
many another American young man, with proper ambition, he has made good 
in life. While engaged in the mercantile business for several years he 
decided to take law as a profession, and began the study of textbooks, which 
he kept up for a time, and completed his studies in the Law Department 
of the West Virginia University, and was admitted to membership of the 
Monongalia County Bar in 1908, where he has since conducted a successful 
business. 

In early life he developed a liking for politics. His publie service in a 
political way began at the age of 23 with his election as Mayor of the 
town of Fairview in his home county. Since 1904 he has been a resident 
of Morgantown and a member of the Monongalia County Bar, and he has 
twice represented the people of this county in the Legislature of the State. 
He is a man of high grade moral character, and is always found on the 
moral side of all questions that arise in politics and law as well. But he 
is very far from being a ‘‘re-former’’ of the one idea type. The Yost bill 
is not the only measure of great political and sccial interest in the shaping 


498 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


of which the subject of this sketch has had a hand during his two terms 
of legislative service. He worked hard for the enactment of the Public 
Service Commission Law, the Workmen’s Compensation Act, the Hydro- 
electric Law, a Juvenile Court bill, a State-wide primary law and other 
measures promised in the platform of the Republican party upon which he 
was elected. 

The Prohibition Law, for which Mr. Yost stood sponsor in the session of 
1913, has now met the test of actual enforcement, and it is not too much to 
say that West Virginia to-day stands at the head of the growing list of 
States in which prohibition has been made to prohibit. The Yost bill was 
an attempt to put into definite legislative form the unmistakable mandate 
of the people of West Virginia, uttered in the election of 1912 by their vote 
on the adoption of the Prohibition Amendment. 

In Charleston, during the legislative session of 1909, and later, in the 
session of 1913, Mr. Yost took a prominent part in the framing and cham- 
pioning of a number of constructive and progressive measures of the utmost 
importance, evincing in this work the qualifications that go with a high 
order of statesmanship. He proved to be alert and resourceful as a parlia- 
mentarian on the floor of the House and an indefatigable worker on the 
bills in which he was interested in their committee state of development. 
* In his business, professional and domestic life, Mr. Yost’s career has been 
one of unquestioned integrity and fidelity to the highest ideals of good 
citizenship. He has been successful in business and in his professional work. 
Being a man of many gifts, he has proved an excellent advocate and a 
successful practitioner. In all his dealings he has been scrupulously honest, 
and consequently has a strong following of patrons and close friends. 

He is happily married, has one son, and resides at Morgantown, the seat 
of justice of Monongalia County. His home life is ideal, and among his 
friends he is always social, joyful and happy. He is a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. 


Hon. Charles Ritchie 


Mr. Ritchie is the son of George W. and Phoebe Ritchie of Pendleton 
County, West Virginia, where Charles was born at the town of Macksville 
in said county, February 15, 1883. After attending the schools of his 
neighborhood, he taught in public schools of Pendleton and Randolph 
counties for four years, and later taught four years in Piedmont graded 
and high school in Mineral County, after which he took the academic course 
of stury required at the Keyser Preparatory School of the West Virginia 
University, completing the course in 1906; taught school two years, and 
then became a student in the Law Department of the State University at 
Morgantown. After completing the course of study required there, he 
located in the city of Keyser, Mineral County, and in 1912 was admitted 
to practice in the Circuit Court of that county. From the beginning he 


HON. CHARLES RITCHIE 


500 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


- 


revealed marked and pronounced ability as a successful attorney, and has 
rapidly advanced in the way of securing a profitable clientage. He is 
studious and painstaking in the preparation of his cases, and has developed 
into a good trial lawyer and a safe pleader. He practices in all of the State 
Courts, as well as the Federal Courts of the State. He is a young man of 
good habits, of irreproechable personal character, dignified, graceful, affable 
in manner, and withal modest and unassuming. He has been, since March 4, 
1917, one of the Assistant Attorneys-General of the State, and is making 
an excellent record for efficiency in that high and responsible department 
of State government. 

December 20, 1909, Mr. Ritchie was united in marriage with Miss Eva 
Marie Tibbets, and as a result of this union they have one child. Their 
home is in the city of Keyser, but since Mr. Ritchie’s appointment as a 
State official their residence is at the Capital of the State. 

Mr. Ritchie is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and 
the Knights of Pythias. He also belongs to Kappa Alpha Greek letter 
college fraternity. 


Hartley Sanders, LL.B. 


In the picturesque blue grass county of Greenbrier, West Virginia, the 
subject of this sketch, a son of the Reverend Wm. Henry and Margaret 
Hartley Sanders, first saw the lght August 24, 1879. He received his 
rudimentary training in the public schools of his native county. Later, he 
became a student at Randolph-Macon Academy at Front Royal, Virginia. 
Still later he entered Randolph-Macon College at Ashland, Virginia, where 
he completed his academic education. Having decided to become a lawyer, 
he entered the Law Department of the University of Virginia, at Charlottes- 
ville, where he remained until he received his diploma as a Bachelor of 
Laws. After graduation, in July, 1907, he was admitted as a member of 
the Charlottesville, Virginia, Bar. Having concluded to locate in West 
Virginia, he came to Princeton, Mercer County, and in August, 1907, he 
became a member of the Bar of that county, where he has since practiced, 
and where he is carrying on a profitable business. His practice is in the 
Criminal and Circuit Courts of the Eighth Circuit, the Supreme Court of 
Appeals of West Virginia and the United States District Courts of West 
Virginia, and also in the Virginia courts near the West Virginia State line. 

He was Solicitor of the city of Princeton for the year 1909, and again 
from July 1, 1915, to June 30, 1917, where he rendered satisfactory service. 
In June, 1916, he was nominated for the office of Prosecuting Attorney for 
Mercer County by the Democrats and was defeated at the election in a 
strong Republican County by about 150 votes in a total vote cast of about 
12,000. He has appeared in many important felony cases, both as special 
counsel for the State in the prosecution and also for the defendants. He 
appeared as Associate Counsel for the city of Princeton in a celebrated 


HARTLEY SANDERS 


502 Bench and Bar of West Virginia. 


water rate case before the Public Service Commission; was also special 
counsel for the County Court in the case of White against the County 
Court, before the Supreme Court of Appeals of the State, involving’ the 
right of the County Court to change the location of publie roads to be 
improved by bond issue after they have been voted on. He was also a 
special counsel for the State in the Snider murder case taken up before 
the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, which was a celebrated 
case from Mercer County. 

Mr. Sanders has a high rank, especially as a criminal lawyer, in the 
southern part of West Virginia. 

He is an active member of the West Virginia Bar Association, and has 
for several years past been Secretary-Treasurer of the Mereer County local 
Bar Association. He married Miss Ina Snow Hylton, February 14, 1915. 
Two children are the result of this marriage. His family are members of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. His home is at Princeton, the seat 
of justice of Mercer County, one of the most prosperous cities of the entire 
State of West Virginia. 


/ Henry Simms, LL.B. 


The subject of this sketch ranks among the prominent younger members 
of the Huntington Bar. He is a son of the late Henry Clay Simms, who 
was one of the noted members of the Bar in his day. The son is a native of 
the city of Huntington, Cabell County, West Virginia, where he was born 
May 7, 1885; was graduated from Marshall College, Huntington, in the 
class of 1901. In the autumn of 1901 he matriculated as a student of law 
in the Law Department of the West Virginia University at Morgantown, 
and was regularly graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1905. 
After his return to his home at Huntington in October of that year, he was 
received as a member of the Cabell County Bar, and has since practiced, 
with satisfactory results, in all the State and Federal Courts of West 
Virginia. He has not, thus far, attempted to specialize in any particular 
branch of the law, but has included all the different branches of the pro- 
fession. It may be, however, that later on he will follow in the footsteps 
of his distinguished father, and confine his attention exclusively to cor- 
poration business, in which his father became quite distinguished, having 
been for a number of years Chief Counsel of the Chesapeake & Ohio Rail- 
way Company for the State of West Virginia. 

After thoroughly equipping himself in the technique of the law, the 
younger Simms settled down to hard work, and has admirably sueceeded in 
building up a successful and profitable business. His father instilled into 
his mind, during his younger years, the truths that all young lawyers must 
first establish a character for integrity and probity, and then must work 
early and late, and deal squarely with the courts and his clients, if he may 
hope to win out of the legal profession anything more than a hand-to-mouth 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 503 


livelihood; but the lawyer who stands four-square to all the world and 
sticks to his calling will, sooner or later, reach the top rungs of the ladder 
upon which all may ascend, because the way is open and free to all prac- 
titioners in the great profession of the law. Some one has aptly said: 
““Tn all professions there is always room at the top.’’ We are gratified to 
be able to say that Mr. Simms is working faithfully along the way blazed 
out for him. 

In the campaign of 1913 Mr. Simms, as the nominee of the Democratic 
party, to which organization he belongs, was elected Prosecuting Attorney 
of his native county, which office he filled faithfully and efficiently for 
four years. He was not only a strong prosecutor, but he was eminently just 
and fair. When one had knowingly violated a statute he was vigorously 
prosecuted, and was made to suffer for his wrongdoing. This was the gauge 
of his conduct during the four years he served as attorney for the people 
of the State; and this rule he never varied from, which was greatly to his 
credit. 

Mr. Simms married Miss Mary Mann, June 19, 1913. One daughter is the 
result of their union. 

He is a member of the Order of Elks and of the Phi Sigma Kappa and 
the Delta Chi Greek letter ‘‘frats.’’ 

He is also a communicant in the Protestant Episcopal Church. 


Thaddeus Stevens Clark, B.S. 


Mr. Clark is the son of Robert F. and Isabelle L. Clark of Carroll County, 
Ohio, where he was born December 30, 1867. His rudimentary education was 
received in the Ohio public schools. Later he entered Scio College, in 
eastern Ohio, where he took the scientific course, graduating with the 
degree of Bachelor of Science. Soon after graduating he began to read 
law, and pursued it faithfully until he was able to pass the required exam- 
ination; changing his residence to West Virginia, locating at Charleston, 
and was admitted to the Kanawha County Bar in 1896. He was received 
as the junior member of the well-known law firm of Chilton, MacCorkle & 
Chilton, and has been a member of that strong legal aggregation up to the 
present time, now approximately a quarter of a century. He has practiced 
in all the courts, from the Kanawha County Criminal Court to the Supreme 
Court of the United States, and especially the Supreme Court of Appeals 
of West Virginia. His firm handles a large volume of business in all 
branches of the law, in all State and Federal Courts, and they specialize in 
large corporation practice, being general attorneys for no inconsiderable 
number of wealthy and influential public corporations. 

Mr. Clark is thoroughly conversant with all the branches of the law; 
sticks close to his calling; works early and late; tries his cases well, and isa 
man of upright and blameless character. He is modest and urbane, is fair 


504 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


to courts and juries and to opposing counsel, and stands well in the com- 
munity where he has thus far spent the greater portion of his mature life. 

Mr. Clark is a Democrat, but has never sought or held an office of any 
kind. He married Miss Agnes Dooley, August 26, 1905, and has one 
child —a daugher, Miss Isabel. He is a Methodist, a Mason and an Elk. 
He is devoted to his home and loves the evening communion of the family 
circle. He has a warm side for his friends and enjoys associations with 
them. He, on the whole, is a man of enterprise, reliability and usefulness. 


William Burdette Mathews, M.A., LL.B., LL.M. 


William Burdette Mathews, son of C. C. and Esther J. (Seott) Mathews, 
was born in Marshall County, West Virginia, August 27, 1866, and was 
educated in the public schools of his native county and at Waynesburg 
(Pa.) College, from which he graduated with the class of 1886. In 1889 
he was given the pro honore degree of Master of Arts by his alma mater. 
He served a few years as a clerk in the Census office at Washington, D. C., 
and while a resident of that city he took the two years’ law course of study 
at Columbian University, now George Washington University, of Washing- 
ton, and received the pro merito degree of Bachelor of Laws. He added 
another year’s study in the same university and was awarded the post- 
graduate degree of Master of Laws. Shortly after graduation, in 1892, he 
passed the critical examination of the District Bar and was admitted as a 
practitioner in the various Federal Courts of Washington. He, however, 
returned to his home at Moundsville, where he opened a law office, and was 
making good headway, when he was tendered, in 1897, the responsible 
position of Chief Clerk in the State Auditor’s office at Charleston, which 
he accepted and filled with credit and ability, until he was made Assistant 
Attorney-General of the State, a position he was well equipped to fill, and 
in which he rendered satisfactory service, until he was elected to the 
responsible semi-legal office of Clerk of the Supreme Court of Appeals of 
West Virginia, which office he now holds and is filling with great accept- 
ability to attorneys and litigants. 

But few lawyers in West Virginia are better equipped in the techniqué 
of the law than Mr. Mathews. He possesses a trained mind, is quick and 
accurate in his movements, and is an untiring worker. No man can surpass 
him in keeping up with all sorts of details. Being an erudite lawyer, as 
well as the possessor of splendid clerical qualifications, and being also a 
Lord Chesterfield in urbanity and courtesy, it is no wonder that he is 
universally popular with all persons who have business in the highest body 
of our legal tribunals. 

Mr. Mathews has a charming wife and two delightful daughters, who 
make up a happy household. He is an active and useful member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, and received its highest honors by being twice 


HON. WILLIAM B. MATHEWS 


506 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


elected a delegate to its General Conference, the law-making body of that 
religious denomination; is a Mason of high rank; a member of the Elks; 
and in all relations in the community where he resides he is loyal, true, 
charitable, generous and considerate. He is always at the forefront in 
every good word and work. 


John ‘Wehrle, LILB! 


Our subject is the son of Ambrose and Mary Wehrle, and was born in 
Charleston, West Virginia, February 18, 1872. He is one of the junior 
members of the strong law firm of Brown, Jackson & Knight, of Charleston. 
His primary education was received in the public schools of his native city, 
including all the branches of the High School, from which he graduated 
in 1888. Later he attended the West Virginia University at Morgantown, 
and graduated from its Law Department in the class of 1907, being awarded 
the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He, however, was admitted as a member 
of the Charleston Bar upon the examination of three judges, who certified 
to his qualifications to practice law, in 1906, one year before he graduated 
from the State University. He subsequently pursued his law studies at the 
University until he mastered the entire course, and was admitted to prac- 
tice in the Supreme Court of Appeals of the State and all the United States 
Courts within the State of West Virginia. Shortly after his graduation 
he became a member of the able law firm above stated, and has specialized 
particularly in the examination of Land Titles and the abstracting of the 
same, which is an important part of the business of the law firm to which 
he belongs. He is a zealous, careful worker, a hard student, and is thorough 
in his work. He goes to the bottom of every case he handles. He is con- 
scientious, accurate and painstaking in all of his undertakings, and is 
fully trusted by the older members of his firm. When he completes a case 
it is understood that the work has been thoroughly accomplished. His 
experience as a trial lawyer has thus far been rather limited; but he is’ 
well read in the technique of the law, and doubtless will be heard from 
in all the different branches of the profession. He is the possessor of much 
more than an ordinary legal mind, which, coupled with his well-known 
industrious habits and his integrity of character, there is yet much in store 
for him as a member of the great profession. 

He is a Republican in politics, but never held an office of any kind 
whatever, because he never had any ambitions in that direction. He pre- 
fers the duties and calling of a lawyer, and he sticks close to his law office 
and his books. In religion he is a Presbyterian, and is an honorable and 
upright citizen. He married Miss Sara G. Satterfield, of Greenwood, Dela- 
ware, February 27, 1901, and has no offspring. He is a member of all the 
branches of the Masonic Fraternity, including the Nobles of the Mystie 


Shrine. 


JOHN WEHRLE 


508 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


John Miller Newton Downes 


Mr. Downes is a son of John and Caroline Guest Downes; was born in 
Carroll County, Ohio, July 3, 1863, and was educated in the National 
Normal of Ohio and Glasgow Normal Schools, the latter of the State of 
Kentucky. He was admitted to the Bar of Pulaski County, Kentucky, in 
1891, where he practiced for several years; united in marriage with Miss 
May Smith, of Glasgow, Kentucky, by whom he has had four children; 
moved his residence to Buckhannon, West Virginia, and became a perma- 
nent resident of that thrifty and enterprising city, where, by strict atten- 
tion to his duties and by square and manly dealings with the people, he 
has built up and gathered around him a profitable clientele. 

He is a Republican in his political affiliations, and ably and satisfactorily 
filled the office of Mayor of the City of Buckhannon in 1903-04, but has 
never aspired to any other political office, preferring to devote his entire 
time and energy to his professional duties. He is a wise and judicious 
counselor and is an excellent trial lawyer. His force of will, self-reliance 
and courage are more than common. His integrity is beyond question, and 
at all times he shows a deep interest in all religious and uplift movements. 
He is invariably found on the moral side of every important question that 
comes before the public, and is interested in the civie development of the 
community wherein he resides. 

In his religious convictions he is a Presbyterian, and is a Mason and an 
Odd Fellow, and also belongs to the West Virginia and American Bar 
Associations. He is thoroughly devoted to the profession of the law and 
enjoys associations with his brothers of the Bar. 


H. Frank Stout, A.B., LL.B. 


Mr. Stout is a son of Lemuel E. and Eleanor (Harter) Stout, and was 
born at Bridgeport, Harrison County, West Virginia, May 1, 1867, and 
received his primary education in the public schools of his native locality. 
Later he attended the State Normal School at Fairmont and graduated 
in the class of 1891. He then entered the West Virginia University at 
Morgantown, graduating in the class of 1897 with the degree of ‘‘ Bachelor 
of Arts in Law,’’ which carried with it the degree of Bachelor of Laws. 
He was admitted as a member of the Harrison County Bar immediately 
after graduating from the University, and has since practiced uninter- 
ruptedly in the City of Clarksburg, where he has built up a profitable 
business, which is steadily increasing. His practice is not confined to any 
particular branch of the law, but is general in its character and includes 
all State and Federal Courts. He has been a Referee in Bankruptcy since 
1890 at Clarksburg, and is a specialist in bankruptcy matters. He pre- 
pared a book of forms for the use of Referees in Bankruptey, which is in 


H. FRANK STOUT 


510 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


standard use by referees throughout the country, and has proved to be a 
book of rare value to the profession. As a referee it has been a rare 
instance to have his decisions reversed either by the United States District 
or Cireuit Court of Appeals. 

As an attorney Mr. Stout has been unusually successful. He is an 
excellent speaker and tries his cases with force and ease; besides he is 
careful in the preparation of his cases and argues them thoughtfully and 
systematically. He is thoroughly equipped in the technique of the law 
and is soundly educated in all fundamental legal principles. Moreover he 
is a man of high moral character, and has the confidence and respect of all 
the people with whom he has dealings, either as a lawyer or citizen. He 
is also a forward-moving citizen of Harrison County. He takes a vigorous 
part in every movement for the development of the community in which 
he resides. 

He married Miss Ada V. Alexander, October 25, 1900, and resides in a 
palatial residence on an interurban car line, a few miles from Clarksburg, 
where he owns and operates a large farm, purely as a side issue to his law 
business. He is a member of the M. E. Church, the Masons, the Odd Fel- 
lows, the Elks and Knights of Pythias. In college he affiliated with the 
Kappa Alpha Greek letter fraternity. He is also a member of the Harrison 
County and West Virginia Bar Associations. For many years he has been 
active in Young Men’s Christian Association and church work generally. 
In early life he pinned his faith to the Republican party, and has done 
much successful campaigning in its behalf. Taking him all in all he is one 
of the thorough-going, valuable citizens of Harrison County. 


Isaac D. Smith, LL.B. 


Mr. Smith, son of Isaac D. and Mary L. Smith, is a native of Grant 
County, West Virginia, where he was born January 11, 1890, and was 
reared on his father’s farm near Petersburg, the seat of justice of that 
county. After securing the best instruction obtainable, at the age of sixteen 
he secured authority to teach in the publie schools of his native county, 
which occupation he assiduously followed for two years, with the sole 
purpose in view of procuring enough money to pay his way through col- 
lege. In the fall of 1909 he became a student at the Preparatory Branch 
of the West Virginia University at Keyser, Mineral County, where he 
remained two ‘years. In 1913 he entered the Law Department of Wash- 
ington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia, and graduated in the 
class of 1915, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. In the fall of that 
year he entered Emerson College of Oratory, Boston, Massachusetts, where 
he took part in the ranks of classes from the Sophomore to the Senior and 
Post Graduate classes, specializing in all studies that pertained to the art 
of public speaking, which he has found of great value to him since entering 


ISAAC D. SMITH 


512 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


~ 


upon the practice of his profession. He returned to his native State and 
was admitted to the Grant County Bar in January, 1916, at Petersburg, 
and entered upon a most promising career as an attorney and counselor- 
at-law. He is industrious and honorable and is careful in the preparation 
oc his cases; and being a trained public speaker he was not long in press- 
ing his merits upon the minds of the people to an extent that his income 
has placed him on ‘‘ Easy Street,’’? and is still growing most encour- 
agingly. His practice has extended into the adjoining counties of Hardy 
and Pendleton, which embrace the territory of the Upper South Branch 
Valley of the historic Potomac River, the really pictorial region of West 
Virginia. 

Mr. Smith from early manhood has been an adherent of the Republican 
party, and was its nominee for the office of Prosecuting Attorney of Grant 
County in the campaign of 1916, and was elected for a four years’ term, 
beginning January 1, 1917. In that important office he is even more than 
making good. Being a moral, Christian man he discharges his official duties 
conscientiously and ‘‘ without fear or favor.’’ He is a member of the 
Presbyterian Church and has always allied himself on the side of the moral 
element of the people of his county. He educated himself by his own 
efforts, has lived a clean and upright life, is industrious, is kind, generous 
and cheerful. He tells us he is still unmarried, but ‘‘ Her glorious fancies 
come from far, beneath the silver evening star.’’ Hence we conclude that 
the serious moment is not far off, and is liable any ‘‘ old day ’’ to break 
through the shadowy gloom that now hems him in. 

Mr. Smith is a member of the Masonie and Odd Fellows fraternities, 
both of which are moral, patriotic, charitable organizations. 


E. M. Everly, A.B., LL.B., Ph.D. 


My. Everly, son of Allen and Maria Brewer Everly, was born in Green 
County, Pennsylvania, in 1864; was educated at Waynesburg (Pennsyl- 
vania) College; graduated A.B. from the West Virginia University in 1892; 
took post-graduate course at same University and received the degree of 
Doctor of Philosophy in 1896. Afterwards he took the required law course 
at the West Virginia University and graduated LL.B. in the elass of 1903. 
It is patent, therefore, that he procured a thorough education before he 
attempted to enter upon his career as a lawyer. He was admitted as a 
member of the Morgantown, Monongalia County, West Virginia Bar in 
1903, and made that his permanent home, where he has since carried on a 
general practice in all the State and Federal Courts. He was reared on a 
farm, taught in the public schools and attended college alternately, cover- 
ing a period of several years as stated above, until he succeeded in obtain- 
ing the best possible educational equipment within his reach. Since his 
admission to the Bar he has devoted all of his time and energies to his 
profession, and as a natural result he is reaping a just reward for the 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 513 


sacrifices he had to make in building up a remunerative clientage. He is 
careful, clear-headed, systematic and thorough in his work. He is a hard 
student and keeps up with court decisions and the latest textbook writers, 
deals fairly with clients, courts and juries, and has the confidence of the 
people who have dealings with him. 

He devotes much of his thought and efforts to the advancement of the 
educational interests of the community where he lives, and to this end he 
spent five years as a member of the School Board of Morgantown Inde- 
pendent District, doing everything in his power to render the City Public 
Schools more efficient. He is, therefore, completely devoted to every 
effort which tends to advance and elevate the public school system of the 
City of Morgantown. 

He married Miss Eva M. Keener in 1898. One daughter, Mary, is the 
result of this union. They are active members of the Baptist Church. In 
polities Mr. Everly classes himself as an Independent Democrat. 


Clinton Wellrose Flesher 


The subject of this sketch is a son of Clayton and Harriett R. Flesher, 
and was born at Grape Island, West Virginia, September 10, 1870. He 
was a student in the public schools of the section of his nativity, and later 
matriculated at the Fairmont Normal School, from which he graduated in 
the class of 1894. Later he attended the West Virginia University as a 
student in the Law Department, taking the required course prescribed for 
an attorney-at-law. He located at Knoxville, Tennessee, and was admitted 
to the Bar of that State in September, 1901. Shortly thereafter he returned 
to his native State, located at the then new and growing town of Gassaway, 
Braxton County, where by ability, energy and close application to business 
he has succeeded in securing a large and profitable clientage. His practice 
ineludes State and Federal Courts, and extends into the adjoining counties 
of Nicholas and Webster. Mr. Flesher has a clear, strong mind and is an 
able advocate, and consequently is a successful practitioner. 

Before entering upon the practice of his chosen profession he taught in 
the public schools of West Virginia for ten years; was principal of the 
publie schools in Elkins for three years; helped to organize the Laymen’s 
Association of the West Virginia Annual Conference of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church at Huntington in 1907, and was elected its first Presi- 
Gent, and has been its presiding officer ever since; was elected a lay dele- 
gate to the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1912 
and 1916; is a member of the Board of Sunday Schools of the M. EH. Gen- 
eral Conference; was appointed Referee in Bankruptcy on September 16, 
1916, by Honorable Benjamin F. Keller, United States District Judge for 
the Southern District of West Virginia, for the Counties of Braxton, Nich- 
olas and Webster. His father was a soldier in the Civil War, and was born 


17 


514 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


— 


and reared in Lewis County. His father’s ancestors took part in building 
the Block House at Weston, Lewis County, to protect the white settlers 
from the ravages of the Indians several generations in the past. 

Mr. Flesher is one of the most active and best known lay members of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church in West Virginia, and devotes much time 
towards creating an interest in moral and religious work. He is married 
and resides in the Town of Gassaway, six miles below Sutton, on the 
historic Elk River, where he is known by and has the confidence of all the 
people. 


Michael Joseph Malamphy, Jr. 


Mr. Malamphy, son of M. J. Malamphy, Sr., and Elizabeth Cecelia 
(Stanton) Malamphy, is a native of Cumberland, Maryland, where he first 
saw the light November 16, 1883, and there grew to manhood. In early 
life he was entered as a studeneé at St. Patrick’s High School at Cumber- 
land, and continued therein until he was graduated from the academy, 
thus receiving a thorough training in all the branches of liberal arts and 
the sciences. He then entered the Mountain State Business College, where 
he received a business training, becoming an expert accountant, stenographer 
and typewriter. He next matriculated as a student in the Law Department 
of the West Virginia University and remained therein until he completed 
the required course. He chose Morgantown, a promising, thrifty city as a 
permanent residence, was admitted to the Monongalia County Bar, April 
26, 1906, and has since practiced with much vigor and success. His busi- 
ness has increased with rapid strides the past five or six years. His prac- 
tice has extended into all the branches of the profession and into all the 
State and Federal Courts. He is genial and companionable, is a hard 
worker, and when interested in a subject he considers no labor too great 
to devote to it. He is fluent in speech and tries his cases well. He pos- 
sesses, in a large degree, the knack of attracting people to him and making 
them his friends. 

Before entering upon the active practice, more for the experience than 
anything else, he served for a considerable time as shorthand reporter for 
the Circuit Court of Monongalia County, and it was time profitably spent. 
He also spent a short time as a shorthand clerk for the State Legislature 
and as Assistant Private Secretary to Governor William E. Glasscock, of 
West Virginia, all which broadened his experience and materially extended 
his acquaintance, thus equipping him for a more useful and successful 
future as a lawyer. 

Mr. Malamphy is a Roman Catholic in his religious convictions; in 
politics he is a Republican; he belongs to no secret societies except the 
Pi Kappa Alpha Greek letter fraternity. He married Miss Phoebe Ann 
Turner, daughter of the late Dr. Eli Marsh Turner, former President of 
the West Virginia University, by whom he has two children — Richard 
Henry, age 8, and Elizabeth Cecelia, age 4. 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 515 


Charles Lee Estep 


Mr. Estep is a native of Boone County, West Virginia. He is the son 
of Lewis and Louisa Estep, and was born April 9, 1884. He attended the 
publie schools of his native county for several years until he obtained a 
fairly good English education. He then decided to become a teacher in 
the public schools, and worked earnestly and faithfully with that end in 
view. After acquiring sufficient knowledge he passed the required exami- 
nation, received a certificate and entered upon the work of teaching in the 
common schools when yet a young man. This occupation he pursued 
vigilantly for six years. In the meantime he began the study of legal 
textbooks, and became deeply interested; so much so indeed that he gave 
up teaching, and in 1907 he matriculated as a student in the Law Depart- 
ment of the West Virginia University, where he remained two years, and 
received a certificate of graduation. In March, 1908, he was admitted to 
the Boone County Bar, and immediately thereafter entered upon the prac- 
tice of what has proved to be a successful career as an attorney in his 
native county. 

Being a Democrat in his political convictions he was nominated by that 
party as its candidate for the office of Prosecuting Attorney of Boone 
County, was elected and served four years faithfully in that important 
orice from January 1, 1909, to December 31, 1912. It is universally con- 
ceded that he discharged his duties ably and efficiently and to the satis- 
faction of the people of the county. In 1912 he was the nominee of his 
party as a candidate for the State Senate from the Highth Senatorial Dis- 
trict, composed of the Counties of Boone, Logan and Kanawha, and on 
account of a fusion of the Republican and Progressive parties in that 
election he was defeated. Four years later he was urged again to be a 
candidate for the same office, but being desirous to devote all of his time 
and energies to his professional duties, he declined to enter,the race. In 
the meantime his practice in all the State and Federal Courts had materially 
increased so as to occupy the entire time of his mental and physical ener- 
gies. Like most young lawyers, however, he enjoys the excitement ‘‘ of 
the political game’’; but he has found out, as all others have done, that 
in the end sticking closely to the law pays far better. The writer, who, 
at times, has ‘‘ played both games ’’ vigorously, and with some degree of 
success in both, can testify to the correctness of this statement. 

Mr. Estep has maintained an upright life; has been square in all of his 
dealings; has been fair with his clients, the courts and his fellow attor- 
neys; has made an enviable record thus far, and is going on to further 
conquests in the future. 

In 1911 he married Miss Lettie E. Miller and they are the parents of 
three comforting children. Their home is at Madison, the capital of Boone 
County, in one of the richest coal fields in this or any other State of the 
Great Republic. 

He is a member of the Baptist Church and the Mason and Odd Fellow 
Fraternities. 


516 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Angus W. McDonald, LL.B. 


Mr. McDonald, one of the junior members of the strong law firm of 
Brown, Jackson & Knight, was born in Louisville, Kentucky, May 2, 1877; 
was educated in the public and private schools of his native city and at the 
West Virginia University. He graduated in the Law Department of the 
University of Kentucky in 1899, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Laws. 
He became a member of the Louisville Bar the year of his graduation, and 
practiced for two years in the courts of Kentucky; removed his residence 
to Charleston, West Virginia, where he has devoted practically all of his 
time to the practice of his profession, in which he has been very successful. 
In politics he is a Democrat, but in no sense is he a politician. The only 
political office he has ever held was member of the lower house of the State 
Legislature, to which he was elected by the people of Kanawha County in 
1916, and in which office he rendered faithful and satisfactory service. 
He has been for a number of years President of the Provident Life and 
Casualty Company, whose home office is in Charleston, and which has done, 
and is still doing, a large, profitable business, because of its careful man- 
agement, largely due to Mr. McDonald’s business skill and acumen. 

Our subject is a wise, safe counselor, and a skillful trial lawyer, and 
along with his associates has helped to build up a large and very profitable 
legal business in the southern portion of the State. In fact his law firm 
is known as one of the strongest and ablest in the entire State as well as 
one of the most successful. They are not only good lawyers, but they are 
all honorable, upright gentlemen who are thoroughly trustworthy and 
reliable. 

In 1912 Mr. McDonald was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth B. 
Brown, daughter of Hon. James F. Brown, of Charleston, West Virginia, 
where they still reside. 


C. Beverly Broun 


Among the younger members of the legal fraternity of the City of 
Charleston, and one who has made good at the Bar, is the subject of this 
sketch. He was born December 9, 1878, and is a son of Roswell B. and 
Katherine Downing Broun, and is a native of Northumberland County, 
Virginia. He was educated at the University of Virginia, and shortly 
after his graduation from that noted institution he was admitted to the 
Bar of Middlesex County, Virginia, and immediately began to practice in 
the courts of that section of the ‘‘Mother State.’? In the meantime he 
served as Mayor of Urbanna, Virginia, for a short term of years. Upon 
learning of the rapid development of southern West Virginia, and desiring 
a wider field of opportunity and endeavor, he came to Charleston, opened 
a law office, and has by diligence, energy and fidelity to the interests of 


HON. ANGUS W. McDONALD 


518 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


his clients won deserved success and remunerative pecuniary rewards. His 
practice has embraced all branches of the law, and includes all of the courts 
of Virginia and West Virginia, and also the Supreme Court of the United 
States, in which he has had more than average success. 

Mr. Broun possesses a strong mind and body, and is careful and thought- 
ful in giving opinions on questions of law; is social and companionable, and 
enjoys the companionship of his friends. His club life is most enjoyable, 
not only to himself, but to his friends also. He is a member of the Masonic 
Fraternity and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Although of 
marriageable age, he has never seen fit to take unto himself a life com- 
panion of the fairer sex. 


Hon. Wayne K. Pritt 


The subject of this sketch was born in Randolph County, West Virginia, 
January 23, 1872, and is the son of George W. and Lucinda Pritt of said 
county. His education was obtained in the common schools of his native 
county and in the Law Department of the West Virginia University at 
Morgantown, Monongalia County. After graduation, he was admitted to 
the Bar of Tucker County at Parsons, September 19, 1911, where he has 
since practiced. He has been admitted as an attorney in the United States 
District Court in West Virginia and the Supreme Court of Appeals of the 
State. Before entering upon the practice he was elected Clerk of the 
Cireuit Court of Tucker County in 1896 and served acceptably the full term 
of six years, and was re-elected in 1902 for a second term. This experience 
has been most valuable to him as an attorney, because he became thoroughly 
familiar with the rules of practice, the forms of pleadings, drawing orders 
and decrees, etc., etc. He was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Tucker 
County in 1912 and served four years. He proved a strong prosecutor, and 
enforced the law with vigor and fairness, and to the entire satisfaction of 
the people. From the first he showed remarkable tact in the trial of 
causes; is a strong advocate, and has the confidence of Judge and juries; 
prepares his cases with care and thoroughness; has confidence in the correct- 
ness of the positions he takes, and asserts himself with fervor and earnest- 
ness, but always with proper respect towards his opponents. He is upright 
and just, courteous and considerate in all of his dealings, and commands 
the respect and confidence of the people who know him. 

He is a member of the Methodist Protestant Church, the Orders of Odd 
Fellows and Elks, and of the Beta Theta Pi Fraternity. He is an enthusi- 
astie Republican, and takes a live interest in politics, but devotes practically 
all of his time and energy to the practice of his profession. 

He has never married. 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 519 


Hon. James D. Morris 


One of the old time, erudite, critical lawyers of the northern portion of 
this State is the subject of this sketch. He was born in Culpeper County, 
Virginia, January 26, 1806, and died at Moundsville, West Virginia, Novem- 
ber 17, 1902, at the age of ninety-seven years. He grew to manhood in his 
native county, attending all the schools within his reach, and receiving the 
best education the schools of that section could impart. In the fall of 1826 
he moved to Winchester, Virginia, and taught school for a year and a half. 
January 10, 1828, he moved to Clarksburg, in western Virginia, where he 
taught school for two years. While there he married Miss Mary A. Israel, 
sister of Capt. Jacob E. Israel, by whom two daughters were born. One of 
Mr. Morris’ daughters married Alfred Tomlinson of Moundsville. He 
located in Moundsville in 1829 and taught school for a short period, during 
which time he became a student of the law and was admitted to the Bar 
and began to practice and was prospering. Marshall County was formed 
in 1835, and he was appointed Clerk of the Circuit Court by Judge Joseph 
L. Fry. All of the first records of the county appear in his very legible 
handwriting. The deed books and other writings having been written with 
a goose quill and remain as a sample of neatness and clearness rarely found 
in more recent records. He served as Clerk until 1859, at which time he 
resigned to accept a seat in the Legislature of Virginia at Richmond. He 
served during the regular term and was called to serve in the special session 
convened by Governor John Letcher, who called a special session of the 
Assembly, and it was during this extra session that some of the most 
turbulent and exciting times in the history of the State transpired. It was 
during this session that the convention assembled and passed the Ordinance 
of Secession. 

His legal training was so thorough that he was of great value to the 
lawyers and the Judges; he was trusted by all of them to prepare the orders 
and decrees of the court in practically all the cases. The Judges frequently 
stated from the Bench, ‘‘ If Mr. Morris drew the decrees, it was not neces- 
sary for them to read them,’’ and they rarely did it, thus testifying to his 
integrity and ability. After retiring as Clerk he never returned to active 
practice. 

Mr. Morris was a member of the M. E. Church until the beginning of the 
Civil War, when differences arose over sectional matters, which caused him 
to withdraw and become a member of the Episcopal Church. He was, how- 
ever, active and useful in both Churches. His character was above reproach, 
and the people generally sought his counsel and advice on questions of law 
up to the time of his last illness. He was, in his political opinions and 
affiliations, always a Democrat. Although he was nearly a centenarian, his 
death was universally mourned by the people of Marshall County, where he 
spent the larger part of his long and useful life. 


520 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Arthur Jay Valentine 


Myr. Valentine is a son of Andrew and Rachel Valentine. He was born 
in Barbour County, West Virginia, March 8, 1866, and was educated in 
public schools, summer State normal schools and in private law offices. 
After having carefully studied all the required legal textbooks, he was 
examined by three Circuit Judges, who licensed him to become a prac- 
titioner, and he was admitted to the Beverly, Randolph County, Bar in 1887. 
He subsequently located at Parsons, the county seat of Tucker County, 
where he is engaged in active practice and has a large and profitable 
clientele. He is a Republican in politics, but has never sought an office of 
any kind, and devotes all of his time and energies to his legal business. 
Whilst he is well informed in all branches of the law, he specializes largely 
in corporation law, and as a result he represents practically all the corporate 
interests of his county, which, alone, keep him continuously employed. His 
practice, therefore, has been successful and profitable, and has extended into 
all the courts of West Virginia, both State and Federal. 

He was united in marriage with Miss Lummie Kalar, December 2, 1891; 
they are the parents of six children, four of whom are living, and two have 
departed this life. Their daughter, Zillah, is a graduate of the Ithaca, 
New York, Conservatory of Music, and their sons Arthur J., Jr., and 
Mark Valentine, are students in the West Virginia University, preparing 
themselves for the practice of law. Their son Paul, who is nine years of 
age, is a student in the public schools of Parsons, where the family resides. 

Mr. Valentine is a member of the Masonic and Odd Fellows Fraternities. 


Hon. William Sidney Wysong, LL.B. 


Among the strong and successful attorneys of the central counties of 
West Virginia, the subject of this sketch must be recorded. He is a native 
of Hamlin, Lincoln County, West Virginia; is the son of William M. and 
Bettie Mayo Wysong; was born February 13, 1876; was educated at Hill- 
boro Male and Female Academy, where he won the debater’s medal for 
oratory and scholarship; at Hampden-Sidney College, Virginia, where he ear- 
ried off medals for distinguished scholarship, public speaking, ete.; grad- 
uated in law from the West Virginia University in the class of 1896, with 
the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He was admitted to the Bar of Webster 
County in August, 1897, and later was received as a practitioner in the 
Cireuit Courts of the adjoining counties of Nicholas, Braxton, Upshur, 
Harrison and Randolph, where he was employed in important controverted 
cases. He is a public speaker of prominence and an advocate and trial 
lawyer of unusual power and ability. He very soon took high rank, 
especially on the criminal side of the courts. He has a large and profitable 
clientage in the State and Federal Courts in civil as well as criminal cases, 


A. JAY VALENTINE 


522 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


especially in the Supreme Court of the State. He is tender in his sym- 
pathies, warm in his attachments, and is a man of refined social qualities. 
He is a lawyer of excellent attainments, and is thoroughly acquainted with 
the history and character of West Virginia jurisprudence. Whilst he is a 
man of earnest and intense convictions, his actions and expressions are 
always tempered with mildness and discretion. Hence he is respected and 
esteemed by men of all classes and polities. 

Mr. Wysong is an adherent of the Democratic party, and is one of its 
most popular stump speakers. He enjoys mixing with the people as a sort 
of side issue, more for recreation than for political preferment. He filled 
the office of Mayor of the town of Webster Springs during 1907 and 1908, 
and was twice elected, in 1911 and 1913, by the people of Webster County 
to the Legislature of the State. Being a ready debater he took an active 
part in the legislation of those two sessions. He is a member of the 
Southern Methodist Church, is a Freemason and a member of the Greek 
Letter College Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. 

He was married April 18, 1900, to Miss Mattie L. Wooddell, of Webster 
Springs, and has one son — William Prentiss Wysong, aged fifteen. Their 
home is at the famous summer resort of Webster Springs, which the citizens 
of that section claim is the Eldorado of the universe, and they are not far 
wrong in the arguments they set up for its medicinal properties. It is 
great medicinal water. 


Hon. Charles G. Coffman, B.S., LL.B. 


Mr. Coffman is a native of Harrison County, West Virginia; is a son of 
John M. and Cornelia J. Coffman; was born August 30, 1875; attended 
Salem College, at Salem, West Virginia, from which he graduated with the 
degree of Bachelor of Science in the class of 1898; attended the West 
Virginia University and graduated from the Law Department in 1904, 
taking the degree of Bachelor of Laws. The year he left the University 
he was admitted to membership in the Harrison County Bar, where he has 
since practiced in all branches of the law, with more than ordinary success, 
in all the State and Federal Courts of West Virginia. He is a gifted advo- 
cate, and tries his cases with unusual fervor and earnestness. He is a man 
ot integrity and reliability, and is upright and just in all of his dealings 
both as a lawyer and a citizen. He takes unusual pride in the civic 
development of Clarksburg and Harrison County, and is a thrifty, pro- 
gressive, enterprising citizen. 

In politics Mr. Coffman is an enthusiastic Republican, and is always 
relied upon by his party friends for active service in all campaigns before 
the people. He was the Republican candidate for Mayor of the city of 
Clarksburg in 1906, and was elected to the West Virginia State Senate in 
1908 and served for the full term of four years. Being a superior debater, 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 523 


he took an active part in the legislation of that period and was a member 
of several of the leading committees of the body. He was elected Secretary 
of the Republican State Executive Committee in 1916 and is efficiently filling 
that responsible position at the present time (1918). He was chosen Vice- 
President of the West Virginia Bar Association in 1914, and again in 1918. 

Senator Coffman married Miss Alma E. Haymaker, of Clarksburg, October 
14, 1909, by whom he has two sons and one daughter. He is a member of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Masonic, Odd Fellows and Elks Frater- 
nities, and the Delta Tau Delta College Frat. He has the confidence and 
respect of the people generally who have the honor of his acquaintance, 
and is warm-hearted and generous even to a fault. 


D. H. Hill Arnold, A.B., LL.B. 


Mr. Arnold is the son of Thomas J. and Eugenia H. Arnold. He was 
born in the historic town of Beverly, Randolph County, West Virginia, 
January 18, 1879, and received his early training in the common schools of 
that rather ancient borough. Later he matriculated as a student at Wash- 
ington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia, and graduated in the 
classical course, in the class of 1900, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. 
He then entered the Law Department of Michigan University at Ann Arbor, 
and graduated therefrom in its law class of 1902, with the. degree of 
Bachelor of Laws, and was admitted to the membership of the Randolph 
County Bar at the city of Elkins, in the fall of the year he left the Uni- 
versity of Michigan, where he has since practiced, with the exception of 
a short time spent at San Diego, California. He is the senior member of 
the firm of Arnold & Arnold, his brother, E. H. Arnold, being the junior 
member, who is now, however, Field Clerk, Intelligence Department of the 
United States Army service, and has been since 1913. The firm’s practice 
is of a general character, and embraces all branches of the profession in all 
the State and Federal Courts within the limits of West Virginia. 

Our subject, who entered the practice splendidly equipped, from an educa- 
tional point of view, coupled with the facts that he is a man of high moral 
character and a hard worker, have given him a high standing as an attorney 
wherever he is known. He has never been a candidate for any political 
office, although he is a Democrat, and his county is largely of that political 
faith, and a nomination for any political office is equivalent to an election. 
This shows that he prefers the law to politics, and is further proof of the 
fact that he loves his profession and is in it to win. He is an earnest 
student of the law, and has established a reputation for carefulness in the 
handling of cases, and of answering ‘‘ready’’ when they are called for 
trial. He is also accurate in their preparation, and is both energetic and 
forceful in a courthouse controversy. Coupled with strict integrity, these 
qualifications invariably lead to ultimate success. 


524 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Mr. Arnold married Miss Rebecca R. Andrews, of Staunton, Virginia, 
August 4, 1914, and they are the parents of two children. He is a member 
of the Presbyterian Church, the Masons and Elks, the West Virginia Bar 
Association, the Rotary Club and the Kappa Alpha Fraternity. 


James R. W. Morris, Jr. 


Mr. Morris was born in the city of Moundsville, West Virginia, June 11, 
1887, and died in Charleston, West Virginia, October 9, 1918, of Spanish 
influenza, after only a few days’ illness. He received his education in the 
Moundsville public schools, including a full course in the High School of 
that city, graduating in 1904. He also took the full course in Elliott’s 
Business College, Wheeling, West Virginia, becoming an expert in stenog- 
raphy and typewriting, and in business matters generally. He entered the 
West Virginia University and after two years’ close application, graduated 
from the Law Department of that institution in the class of 1909, and was 
admitted to the Moundsville Bar in the fall of that year, and entered upon 
the regular practice of his profession with flattering prospects. He, how- 
ever, was tendered the position of Law Clerk by Judge W. N. Miller, of the 
Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia; he, therefore, closed his law 
office, came to Charleston, and remained in that position until his untimely 
death. He was attentive to his duties, and was an efficient Clerk. He was 
methodical and careful in his work, and was thoroughly reliable and trust- 
worthy. All the while he was a close student of the law, and was fitting 
himself for regular practice in the future. 

He was for nearly two years Secretary of the State Bar Association, and 
was well and favorably known by the members of the Association through- 
out the entire State, and to all of them his demise was a shock and a 
SOTTOW. 

He was united in marriage with Miss Eva Woodruff, of Moundsville, in 
1910, but they had no offspring. His charming, broken-hearted wife sur- 
vives him. He was a member of the Masonic Fraternity, but was not a 
communicant of any religious organization. He was one of the publishers 
of this volume, and was its real business manager; for such work he was 
specially equipped. Now that he is gone, his associate fears that some 
errors will necessarily be found. 

By nature he was kind and affectionate, and had many friends. His 
entire life was without a blemish or a flaw. Peace to his ashes, and rest 
to his soul. We knew no cleaner, upright man than was young Walter 


Morris. 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 52 


|} Coxe 


Henry A. Nolte, LL.B. 


Our subject, son of Henry and Hannah (Carl) Nolte, was born in Ben- 
wood, Marshall County, West Virginia, October 7, 1876, and received a 
liberal education in the public schools of his native city and at Waynesburg 
College, Waynesburg, Pennsylvania. Later he was graduated from the Law 
Department of the West Virginia University with the degree of Bachelor 
of Laws. He was admitted to practice shortly after his graduation, in 1904, 
in the Circuit Court of Monongalia County, and has since practiced in the 
State and Federal Courts of West Virginia, principally in the city of 
Wheeling. y 

He later located in the city of Wheeling, where he now resides. His 
practice embraces all branches of the law common to the courts of West 
Virginia, and also the responsible position of Assistant Attorney-General of 
the State of West Virginia, an office especially requiring thorough familiar- 
ity with the statutes of the State, as he is required to appear on behalf of 
the State, in many important cases, as assistant to the Prosecuting Attor- 
neys, when important questions arise, which often occurs, in which the 
State itself is concerned, wherein transcendent questions are frequently 
raised, and legal knowledge above the average is essential to protect the 
interests of the people at large. It is his duty also to assist the Attorney- 
General to construe the acts of the Legislature when called upon so to do 
by the subordinate law officers of the different counties. It is, therefore, 
not only an important, but it is also a most difficult position to fill. Mr. 
Nolte has been in his present responsible position since March 4, 1917, and 
is rendering faithful and satisfactory service. 

Mr. Nolte married Miss Louisa Kunkle and has three children, and resides 
in the city of Wheeling. He, however, is required to reside at the Capital 
of the State during the tenure of his present office. 

He is a member of the Orders of Elks and Moose, and is an active, 
thoroughgoing citizen of the Commonwealth. 


Buckner Clay, B.A., LL.B. 


Mr. Clay, son of Ezekiel F. and Mary Woodford Clay, was born near 
Paris, Kentucky, December 31, 1877. He received his academic education 
at the Kentucky University, graduating in the class of 1897, and was 
awarded the classical degree of Bachelor of Arts, in cursu. Thereafter he 
entered the University of Virginia as a student of law, and in 1900 grad- 
uated therefrom with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He was admitted 
as a member of the Paris, Kentucky, Bar the year of his graduation, and 
remained there until June, 1903, when he moved his residence to Charleston, 
West Virginia, and became a member of the able and well-known law firm 


526 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


of Price, Smith, Spilman & Clay, where he has since practiced with much 
more than ordinary success. 

Mr. Clay is a young man of sound morals, high grade integrity, well 
educated and thoroughly grounded in legal principles. He is a zealous 
worker, a close student, of sound judgment and a careful pleader. He has 
thus far revealed no taste for politics, or any occupation that would, in the 
least, detract from his duties as a lawyer. He never held an office, and 
never sought one. His pride alone is in his profession, and thus far he has 
made unusual progress. This is a strong reason why his knowledge of the | 
law is broad and exact. He is methodical and laborious in the preparation 
of his cases, and is always well armed with precedent and authority. 
Necessarily, therefore, he is a safe and successful trial lawyer. The firm of 
which Mr. Clay is the junior member covers all branches of the law in all 
the State and United States Courts, and yet it may be said that they 
specialize in corporation and commercial causes. All of the members of 
the firm are lawyers of ability, and can maintain themselves in any sort of 
a law or chancery cause, and therefore are well informed in ‘any branch 
of the profession. The court dockets show that they are employed in a 
large number of important litigations, and that they are never short of a 
large and profitable clientele. All of them are not only known as thoroughly 
equipped lawyers, but they are also known as men of high grade personal’ 
characters and thoroughly reliable, trustworthy gentlemen. 

Mr. Clay is a Democrat, is married and maintains a beautiful residence 
in the Capital City of West Virginia. 


Judge J. Frank Maynard, LL.B. 


Our subject was born at Honaker, Virginia, January 26, 1875, and was 
educated at Tazewell College, Tazewell County, Virginia, and in the Law 
Department of the West Virginia University at Morgantown, graduating 
in the elass of 1899 with the degree of Bachelor of Laws; located at 
Bluefield in Mercer County, and was admitted to the Mercer County Bar 
in 1900 and opened a law office in the city of Bluefield, where he conducted 
a successful and lucrative business until his election by the people as Judge 
of the Criminal Court of Mercer County in 1908, where he has since served 
with great acceptability, and is now serving his second term. 

The first office he ever filled was Assistant Clerk of the House of Dele- 
gates of West Virginia from 1901 to 1903 inclusive; was City Attorney 
of Bluefield in 1903; was appointed United States Commissioner for the 
Southern District of West Virginia in 1902, and resigned in 1905; was 
elected Prosecuting Attorney of Mercer County in the campaign of 1904, 
and served four years with great efficiency. In the campaign of 1908 he 
was elected Judge of the Criminal Court of the county, as stated above. 
Before his elevation to the Bench, he had succeeded in building up a luera- 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 527 


tive practice. He was attentive to his business; is an efficient advocate; 
tried his cases well, and was one of the popular attorneys of Mercer County. 
His personal character is above reproach, and he has the confidence and 
respect of all the people of his section of the State. He is a well-informed 
lawyer and is an industrious and faithful worker. In politics he has always 
been a stanch Republican. He is large of stature, commanding in appear- 
ance, is social and agreeable and has a large following of personal friends. 
His energy and integrity, his knowledge of law, his sound views of justice 
make him an excellent Judge. He is firm in his convictions, yet tolerant 
of the opinions of others, and never obtrudes or urges the reception of his 
views as a condition of his courtesy and regard. 

As a lawyer he was habitually calm, abhorred the methods of artifice, and 
spurned a cause which he believed unjust. These features of his character 
engaged confidence in him as a lawyer and a Judge, and the highest respect 
for him as a man. He is unswerving in his integrity and devotion to 
principle and conscientiously faithful to the interests of his clients. He is 
comparatively a young man, and there is yet a bright future before him. 

He is married and is a member of the Orders of the Elks and the Hagles. 
His residence is in the city of Bluefield. 


Captain Kemble White, A.B., LL.B. 


Captain White, son of Hon. Henry S. and Lovia Fields White, was born 
at Bellton, Marshall County, West Virginia, April 5, 1873, and was educated 
in the public schools of his native county and at the West Virginia Uni- 
versity, from which he was graduated A.B. in the class of 1894. Later he 
took the law course in the same institution, graduating LL.B. in the class 
of 1900. He was admitted to the Morgantown Bar in the fall of that year, 
and shortly thereafter located in the city of Fairmont, Marion County, 
where he has since successfully practiced. His practice embraced, for a 
time, all branches of the law, but of late years he has specialized in oil 
and gas litigations in which he has become quite an authority. 

He was Captain of a company in the First West Virginia Infantry Regi- 
ment of Volunteers in the Spanish-American War; was a good soldier and 
served faithfully until the close of the war. He promptly returned to his 
law office, and devoted his time and his energies to the rehabilitation of 
his business which had scattered and largely disappeared during his absence 
in the field. He recouped rapidly and now has a large and profitable 
clientele. 

He is a Republican in politics, but has never aspired to any public office, 
preferring to devote all of his time to his profession, in which he has been 
remarkably successful. His one predominating thought and purpose is to 
reach the highest possible standard as a lawyer, and his aspirations in this 
respect have been abundantly rewarded. He, therefore, as a lawyer, 


528 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


whether judged with reference to work performed or pecuniary gain, has 
reached an enviable position among his fellows. He has a superior 
analytical mind, and, therefore, is naturally as well as by education, fitted 
for the law. In his preparation for court trials he is thorough and tactful, 
and better than all, he can always be found at his post of duty. Such men 
rarely, if ever, fail to reach the goal of their ambition. 

Captain White during the European War has rendered valuable service 
to the Government as Chairman of the Selective Draft Board of the city of 
Fairmont. 

Captain White is married, has two children and resides at Fairmont. 
His home-life is ideal. Naturally hopeful and happy, his hours with his 
family and friends are always social and joyous. 


Felix Clarence Pifer, A.M. 


Our subject is a native of Buckhannon, Upshur County, Virginia, where 
he was born January 28, 1856. His parents were Jacob B. and Cecilia Pifer, 
well known citizens of Upshur County. Our subject, after attending the; 
public schools in rudimentary training, entered Allegheny College, at 
Meadville, Pennsylvania, from which historic institution he graduated in 
the classical course, in June, 1878, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. 
Three years later he received the degree of Master of Arts in cursu. He 
read law, and was admitted to the Bar of Upshur County in 1880. While 
engaged in building up a law practice at Buckhannon he published the 
““ Buckhannon Delta,’’ a Republican newspaper, for several years. He 
was an active developer of the material interests and resources of Buck- 
hannon and Upshur County, and vigorously aided in bringing the natural 
advantages of that section to the attention of the general public. He, 
along with other leading citizens, secured the location at Buckhannon 
of a large window glass factory and establishing a wajfer and light plant 
for the city, which put it on the map as a progressive inland city. 

With the object in view of seeking the larger advantages of an aspiring 
attorney, Mr. Pifer moved from Buckhannon to the city of Huntington in 
December, 1910, where he remained three years in the practice of his pro- 
fession. He, however, saw, he thought, a better opportunity for an 
ambitious lawyer at the Capital of the State; moved to Charleston and 
formed*a partnership with the Hon. Adam B. Littlepage, with whom he 
remained three years, and then opened an office on his own account, in the 
Charleston National Bank building, where he has since conducted a success- 
ful and profitable business. 

Mr. Pifer is thoroughly grounded in the law, is an amiable and courteous 
gentleman, and is popular with his brother attorneys. He is a hard-working, 
painstaking attorney, prepares his cases with great care and has a good — 
standing with his brother attorneys of the Charleston Bar. He has prac- 


F. C. PIFER 


530 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


ticed in the Cireuit Courts of Upshur, Cabell and Kanawha counties, in 
the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, the Federal Courts within 
the State, and has tried several important cases in the Supreme Court of the 
United States. He is a safe and sane trial lawyer, states his cases clearly, 
and argues them with force. His practice extends into all the branches of 
the profession. He has always been a hard student and devotes his entire 
time to his office and court work. In politics he is a pronounced Republican 
and takes an interest in politics, but has never sought an office of any 
character, and has never been a candidate for any office whatever. He 
prefers the routine work of the plodding, work-a-day lawyer to the excite- 
ment and uncertainties of the professional politician and an ‘‘in-and-out’’ 
office-holder and office-seeker. Good lawyers, as a rule, only intermeddle 
with politics as a side issue. 

He married Miss Sarah Ann Teece, June 4, 1885, and has three children — 
one daughter and two sons. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church, 
and has been a member of the Masonic Fraternity for about thirty-five 
years. He has, on a number of occasions, acted as Special Judge in holding 
different terms of Circuit Courts, and gave general satisfaction to lawyers 


and suitors. 


Captain Charles McCamic, LL.B. 


Our subject ranks among the well-known younger members of the legal 
profession in West Virginia, and is actively engaged in the practice as a 
member of the firm of McCamic & Clarke in the City of Wheeling. He was 
born in the City of Wellsburg, Brooke County, West Virginia, December 
4, 1874, and is a son of Nathan and Frances Dowden MecCamie well-to-do 
citizens of the ‘‘ Northern Pan Handle ’”’ of the State. He was educated 
in the schools of his native section, Linsly Institute (Wheeling), and at 
Yale University, from which nation-wide institution he graduated in the 
Law Department with the degree of LL.B. 

After graduating from college Mr. McCamic located in the City of 
Moundsville, twelve miles below Wheeling on the Ohio River, and was 
admitted as a practitioner in the courts of Marshall and adjoining counties. 
Shortly thereafter he was admitted as an attorney in the United States 
District and Cireuit Courts, and later on he became an attorney in the 
Supreme Court of the United States. He has practiced his profession with 
unabating ardor, and has won an enviable reputation and a profitable 
clientage. He is of medium height and of well-knit symmetrical figure; 
a vigorous and logical speaker and is potential on the platform of public 
assemblies, and enjoys the friendship and esteem of his fellow-citizen, 
irrespective of party politics He is married and lives in a palatial resi- 
dence in the City of Moundsville, but his principal law office and place of 
business is in the City of Wheeling, where his well-known firm has a large 
and profitable clientage. 


CAPTAIN CHARLES McCAMIC 


532 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


From early manhood Mr. McCamic has had a rather strong liking for 
political life, although in no respect can he be termsd an office-seeker. 
The first and only political office he has ever held was a member of the 
West Virginia Legislature from Marshall County, to which he was elected 
as a Republican by the people of the county in 1903. Being a good judge 
of men, and always at his post of duty, he proved himself to be a valuable 
and influential representative. 

For a number of years he has been a member of the State Bar Associa- 
tion, and from 1908 to 1916 he was the efficient Secretary of the Associa- 
tion, and is well and favorably known to all of the members of that able 
body of West Virginia attorneys. He is a member of the Masonie Frater- 
nity and the Presbyterian Church. 

He was among the very first young West Virginia lawyers to volunteer 
in the United States Army in the war against the German Empire and 
received a commission as Captain and saw active service with the 27th 
Division in said war. : 

He is a member of the National Art Club (New York City), the 'Edge- 
wood Country Club (Charleston, West Virginia), Fort Henry Club, Wheel- 
ing, and the Country Club and University Club, also of Wheeling. 


Hon. Edgar Granville Rider 


Mr. Rider, son of Benjamin HE. and Teressa Rider, was born near Sutton, 
Braxton County, West Virginia, September 24, 1868. He received his 
preliminary training in the public schools of his native county. Later he 
matriculated as a student at the National Normal School, Lebanon, Ohio, 
where he remained two years (1888 and 1889) in the Academie Department. 
He then entered Washington and Lee University at Lexington, Virginia, 
from which he graduated in the Law Department in the class of 1893. He 
promptly returned to his native county of Braxton and began life as a 
lawyer by being admitted to the Bar of that county at Sutton, the seat of 
justice of the county, in June of that year. His life as a lawyer, whether 
judged with reference to labor performed or pecuniary gain, must be classed 
as honorable and successful. His career is an example of sound judgment, 
fidelity and painstaking preparation, and above all of absolute fairness 
and a scrupulous cultivation of the best traditions of the profession, and a 
stainless observance of its best methods. He is accurate in the preparation 
of his cases and in the giving of advice to litigants. His pronounced 
integrity has always been equal to his accuracy. Through his entire career 
he has always carried above him the white flower of a blameless life. 

Mr. Rider in politics has always been a Republican. He, as the nominee 
of that party, was elected in 1904 Prosecuting Attorney of Braxton County, 
notwithstanding the fact the county, as a rule, returns large Democratic 
majorities. During his term of four years he proved to be a just and fear- 


HON. EDGAR G. RIDER 


5384 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 
TE EEE Eee 
less prosecutor. He never dealt in fears or favors, but saw to it that any 
violator of the law got exactly what was coming to him and no more nor 
less. ! 

For quite a number of years he was a Referee in Bankruptey for the 
Southern District of West Virginia. He resigned this office in September 
of 1916, when he was appointed by Governor H. D. Hatfield a member of 
the Public Service Commission of West Virginia to fill out the unexpired 
term of the late Gov. William M. O. Dawson, deceased, who was a member 
of said Commission. He was reappointed to the same office February 21, 
1917, and is still serving on said Commission. This office in rank, influence 
and responsibility is, perhaps, in all respects, equal to that of the Governor, 
and even carries a larger salary. Mr. Rider has met the expectations of 
the public in measuring up to the requirements of this great office. 

Mr. Rider married Miss Laura Morrison, of Braxton County, December 
26, 1894, by whom he has three children. He is devoted to his home, and 
loves the evening communion of the family circle, and takes special delight 
in his associations with his friends and neighbors. He is a Freemason of 
high rank and is an active and useful member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. 


Russell S. Ritz 


Mr. Ritz was born February 21, 1886, on the Ohio River, in Wayne 
County, West Virginia; attended public schools until the age of 14, during 
which time he lived and worked on his parents’ farm. At the age of 14 
he studied telegraphy, and after three months of this study he procured 
employment as a telegraph operator and worked as such for various rail- 
roads. After four years’ service he was promoted to Train Dispatcher. 
He resigned in order to attend school at Marshall College. The following 
year he began the study of law at the West Virginia University and com- 
pleted the course of studies in the Law Department at that imstitution in 
January, 1909. Immediately thereafter he engaged in the active practice 
of the law in Mercer County, locating at Bluefield, where he became a 
member of the law firm of Ritz & Ritz, which was composed of Harold A. 
Ritz, his older brother, now a Supreme Court Judge, and himself. He con- 
tinued as a member of that firm until April, 1913, when the partnership 
was dissolved, and he began practice on his own account. His practice has 
been of an active character, being represented almost exclusively by litiga- 
tions in the Circuit Courts of Virginia and West Virginia, and in the 
Supreme Courts of these two States, as well as in the Federal District 
Court for the Southern District of West Virginia and the Western District 
of Virginia, and of the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fourth 
Judicial Circuit. He has engaged in no outside business of any kind, but 
has given his entire time and efforts to the study and practice of his pro- 
fession, in which he has been remarkably successful, and is ranked among 


RUSSELL 8S. RITZ 


536 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


the coming young men of the profession in the southern portion of the 
State. 

He was married June 30, 1909, to Miss Cleon Boggess, as a result of which 
union two children have been born— Eleanor Cleon and Jean Elizabeth. 
In polities he is a Republican, and held the office of Assistant Prosecuting 
Attorney of Mercer County from 1912 to M16. He is a member of the 
Masonie Fraternity and is also a member of the Presbyterian Church. He 
was nominated as a member of the West Virginia Legislature in 1918, but 
declined to accept the proffered honor. 


Ashton File, Jr. 


Mr. File is a member of the able and well-established law firm of File 
& File at Beckley, the county seat of Raleigh County. He was born on a 
farm near Ransons, Buckingham County, Virginia, January 3, 1879. His 
parents were Ashton and Louisa (Tucker) File. He was educated in the 
public schools of Virginia and the Law Department of the West Virginia 
University, and was admitted to the Bar of Fayette County, West Vir- 
ginia, in 1901. He remained a short time in that county and finally settled 
in the City of Beckley, in the adjoining County of Raleigh, where his firm 
has extended its business to large proportions, and is steadily increasing 
its already large clientele. He is a Democrat in his political faith, but has 
thus far shown but little interest in politics, and has not sought political 
promotion. The only office he has ever held was Mayor of the City of 
Beckley one term. He proved to be a faithful and progressive official. 
His practice has been general, and his learning embraces all branches of 
the law, and extends into all the courts of West Virginia, both State and 
Federal. His firm has a profitable practice in the Supreme Court of 
Appeals of the State. 

His intuitive perception, close analysis and accurate judgment enable 
him promptly to resolve the gist of a legal proposition and to diseriminate 
between the specious and the real, between truth and error, which enable 
him to impress his positions with a certainty difficult to assail or avoid. 
He has cultivated the habit of preparing his cases with unsparing pains 
and thorough research, and his powers of analogy and knowledge of pre- 
cedent afford him abundant resources of parity of reasoning in the trial 
of his cases. He is a man of amiable qualities and courteous manners, and 
has been successful in his laudable undertakings, both as a lawyer and a 
citizen. He has demeaned himself uprightly, and stands with the moral 
element of the people of his city and county. 

Mr. File was united in wedlock with Miss Frances Nancy Wiggin, June 
14,1911. They have two children — Dwight Ashton and Mary Frances File. 

He is a member of the Masonic and Elks organizations, and as we have 
already stated, of the Democratic party, and is an enterprising, progressive 
citizen of his adopted State. 


ASHTON FILE 


538 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


J. Bernard Handlan, LL.B. 


Among the well-known, successful lawyers of the city of Wheeling is the 
subject of this sketch. He is a son of Hon. William C. Handlan, who, for 
a number of years, was one of the leading business men of Wheeling and 
wielded a large influence in that community. The son was born in Wheel- 
ing, November 29, 1868. He received his primary education in the Highth 
Ward public schools. Later he entered St. Vincent’s Academy at Wheeling, 
and took the complete course in the higher branches of education, including 
the Latin language and the sciences. After completing the course at 
St. Vincent’s, in 1893, he matriculated in the Law Department of the Uni- 
versity of Virginia at Charlottesville, and graduated with the degree of 
Bachelor of Laws in the class of 1894. He forthwith returned to Wheeling, 
was admitted to the Bar, and since then has practiced unremittingly in that 
city until the present time. As a rule, most young lawyers enjoy, and really 
delight to mix in politics. Mr. Handlan, while a pronounced Democrat in 
his convictions, has never sought to make a business out of politics; but on 
the contrary, has devoted his time and energies exclusively to the study and 
practice of the law. In this way he has made himself one of the leaders of 
the Wheeling Bar, and an attorney of force and usefulness in the pro- 
fession. Consequently he has a large and profitable clientele. He has 
always been a hard student, and was never afraid of work. He is careful, 
clear-headed, systematic, vigilant and thorough in his work. These are 
essentials to any, lawyer’s success. He is also a cautious counselor. He 
does not advise the bringing of law suits for fees only. With him there 
must be some real, substantial hope of success before he orders the issuance 
of a precipe, which is a wise course for all lawyers to pursue. Because 
of special care in bringing suits, and attending to them after they are 
brought, Mr. Handlan can attribute his success at the Bar. 

Mr. Handlan’s practice is of a general character, and extends into all 
the State and Federal Courts. He specializes somewhat in corporation 
work, in which he has been measurably successful. He is public-spirited, 
and has devoted much valuable time, as a member of Council, to better 
the interests of the city of Wheeling. He was Prosecuting Attorney of 
Ohio County from 1908 to 1912, and saw to it. that the State laws were 
vigorously enforced. 

He has never married. In religion he is a Roman Catholic. In polities 
he is a loyal Democrat. He is a member of the West Virginia Bar Associa- 
tion and also holds membership in the Elks and the Knights of Columbus. 
He is patriotic and well-filled with civic pride and delights in the develop- 
ment and growth of his county and State. Any one who knows him will 
admit that ‘‘ Bernie?’ Handlan is a good lawyer and a No. 1 citizen in 


every respect. 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia / 539 


Ole Everett Wyckoff 


O. E. Wyckoff, son of Daniel B. and Susan Virginia Wyckoff, was born 
in Taylor County, West Virginia, September 6, 1878. This branch of the 
Wyckoff family came to America in 1637 and settled on Long Island, 
within a short distance of the end of the present Brooklyn, New York, 
Bridge, where the family remained for a term of years, and some of them 
moved to Western Virginia in what is now Taylor County, West Virginia, 
where our subject was born, as stated above. He received his education 
in the public schools of that section and in the well-known West Virginia 
College, a school of excellent standing, for many years, from which he 
graduated with an honorable record. He then became a student at the 
West Virginia University, receiving instruction in the higher branches of 
the University curriculum. He taught in the public schools of his native 
locality for four years, and having decided upon the law as a profession, 
he studied legal textbooks in the law office of Charles Preston Guard at 
Grafton, the seat of justice of Taylor County. He re-entered the West 
Virginia University for the purpose of ocmpleting his law studies in 1903, 
and in 1904 he successfully passed the required examination, and was 
admitted to practice at the City of Grafton in May, 1904, where he has 
since resided, and is conducting a successful and profitable law business. 
His reputation is that of a sound chancery lawyer, who gives close attention 
to his business in the State and Federal Courts, which has steadily increased 
since the day he ‘‘ hung out his shingle.’’ He is retained counsel for a 
number of corporations, among which are the Taylor County Bank at 
Grafton, the Flemington Bank, ete. He has also handled~several estates 
of considerable proportions. He has served as Commissioner in Chancery, 
Commissioner of Accounts, Attorney for the City of Grafton, and is now 
and has been since 1907 Referee in Bankruptcy in the United States Court 
for the Northern District of West Virginia. His reputation all the while 
has been that of a conscientious, painstaking attorney, who deals justly 
and honorably with all men in all of his business transactions. 

While he is a Republican in politics, and his resident county is stoutly 
of his political faith, he has never sought political favors, because he loves 
his profession, and adheres to it with tenacity and remarkable fidelity; 
consequently he is a sound and safe lawyer, and has a profitable clientele. 

Mr. Wyckoff married Miss Mayme Bailey, of Flemington, West Virginia, 
July 12, 1905, and they have one son — Everett Bailey Wyckoff — who was 
born July 21, 1906. Among their friends they are social, joyful and happy. 
They are members of the First Baptist Church of the Ctiy of Grafton, and 
are reliable citizens of that community. 


540 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


Edmund Caskie Harrison 


Born at Sewanee, Tennessee, May 8, 1882. He moved to Charleston, 
West Virginia, in the year 1907 and there became associated with the 
undersigned in the practice of law. His life was devoted to study and 
close association with his family. By inclination and heredity he was a 
student, and his scholarly attainments were manifest in all his professional 
and private activities. He had no military training and no aptitude for 
the strenuous, but he grasped the democratic idea of a national army, 
and with the quiet conviction so characteristic of all he did, determined 
to enter the ranks of a fighting regiment. On April 24, 1918, at Camp 
Lee, he enlisted as a private in Battery A, 313th Field Artillery. On May 
26th, he sailed with his battery for France, there took part in the fierce 
fighting of the 80th division, and was killed by a German shell, November 
1, 1918. 

Mr. Harrison was a brilliant lawyer, a zealous advocate, a good citizen, 
an unselfish friend, a self-effacing associate. His answer to the call of his 
country, his voluntary service in duties foreign to all his training and 
inclinations, his death in action were in keeping with his life. 

His quiet modesty, his cheerful courage, the loyal dedication of his con- 
spicuous ability to the common interests, and above all his gentleness and 
nobility of soul made him more than our respected associate; we honor the 
memory of a faithful friend, a beloved comrade, a noble spirit. 


Nore.—The above brief memorial was prepared and signed by every 
member of the firm of Price, Smith, Spilman & Clay, of which firm Mr. 
Harrison was a member.—EDITorR. 


Judge George W. Atkinson, LL.B., LL.D. 


A history of the Bench and Bar of West Virginia would be incomplete 
if no mention were made of the distinguished public services and especially 
of the honorable judicial record of Judge George W. Atkinson. Hence the 
publishers of this work insisted on a brief representation, in these pages, 
of the author, notwithstanding his objections thereto. Accordingly, they 
have prepared this sketch and in deference to Judge Atkinson’s innate 
modesty have compressed it within very narrow limits. 

Judge Atkinson was born on an Elk River farm in Kanawha County, 
June 29, 1845. After securing such advantages as could be obtained from 
the schools of that county, he attended Ohio Wesleyan University and was 
graduated therefrom in 1870. He took his law course at Howard University, 
Washington, D. C., and was admitted to the Bar in 1875. 

From early life, Judge Atkinson has been active in civil and political 
affairs. West Virginia has no son whom the people have more delighted to 


JUDGE GEORGE W. ATKINSON 


542 Bench and Bar of West Virginia 


honor with official preferment. In 1881 he was appointed United States 
marshal for the District of West Virginia, and held the position for four 
years, administering the office in a manner that won the special commenda- 
tion of the Department of Justice. In 1888, while a resident of Wheeling, 
he was elected a member of Congress from the First Congressional District. 
Declining a re-election, he devoted himself to the practice of his profession 
in Wheeling until 1896, when he was elected to the governorship of West 
Virginia, the first Republican to hold the office since 1871. 

The administration of Governor Atkinson was marked by a high degree 
of executive ability, and a continued ‘strengthening of his party, which his 
retirement from office left free from factional differences and personal 
quarrels. This was largely due to his pleasant and agreeable personality, 
and the diplomatic methods which are natural with him. Possibly no other 
Governor of the State has ever left the executive office carrying with him 
in so great a degree the esteem of his party and the people generally. 

Shortly after his retirement from the office of Governor, he was appointed 
United States District Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia, 
and held that position until April 15, 1905, when President Roosevelt 
appointed him a member of the United States Court of Claims. After 
serving eleven years, he retired from the Bench, as he had earned the right 
to do, on April 17, 1916, and that occasion was marked by addresses by 
many men prominent in the life of the nation, eulogistie of his life and 
character and of his service upon the Bench. 

Upon retirement from the Bench he did not cease the indefatigable 
industry which has characterized his whole life. The acceptable service 
he rendered as President of the West Virginia Bar Association and the 
valuable contribution he has made in preparing and preserving the history 
of the Bench and Bar of the State in this volume are incidents in his active 
life. His strong literary bent, aside from his legal, official and other work, 
is manifest in a number of books he has written on various subjects which 
were published at intervals in his busy career. 

In addition to his other activities, Judge Atkinson has achieved high 
rank in fraternal circles. He became a member of the Masonic fraternity 
when a very young man. In 1876-7 he was Grand Master of the Grand 
Lodge of West Virginia, and was Grand Secretary from 1885 to 1905, a 
period of 20 years. 

He has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church since his early 
youth, and his long church service and consistent life have given him wide 
influence with church people. He was a lay delegate to the general con- 
ference of the Church in 1876 and again in 1888. His religious views he 
has consistently adhered to and splendidly exemplified throughout his long 
and honorable business, political and professional career. 

Judge Atkinson has long held a prominent place among public speakers 
in West Virginia, and his presence has been in demand at hundreds of 
meetings of many different kinds. Not only as a stumper of rare ability 
in political campaigns, but as a lecturer and platform speaker on a vast 


Bench and Bar of West Virginia 543 


number of literary, religious and Masonic subjects he has made a reputation 
far wider than the limits of his native State. 

In 1868 he was married to Miss Ellen Eagan, member of a well-known 
Kanawha County family. She died a number of years ago, leaving five 
children. In 1897 he was married again, this time to Mrs. Myra Horner 
Camden, widow of the late Judge G. D. Camden, of Clarksburg, and they 


reside in Charleston. 
To his three daughters, two sons and a number of grandchildren he 


devotes such time as he may from the demands made upon him by the 
myriad friends of his boyhood and early manhood, and the time thus spent 
amid the scenes of his youth and his early triumphs is to him the happiest 
of the passing years. Kindly by nature, generous to a fault, true to his 
friends and his convictions, knowing no distinction in rank among men, 
except that marked by character, he is a fine type of the sturdy American 
boy grown to be a man of influence and power among his own people and 
of usefulness to the State and Nation. 
THE PUBLISHERS. 


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